The Best Friends
by Crowlows19
Summary: K-Unit is about to learn that revenge, boredom, and paintball is a dangerous combination where these two best friends are concerned. Now a series of scenes about Tom and Alex's friendship in different situations.
1. The Paintball Incident

So after I wrote The Laser Quest Thing I'd gotten a few requests to write a paintballing scene. Well, I decided to take it in a bit of a different direction than you guys were probably expecting. I love the whole idea of a Tom who isn't completely gobsmacked by SAS and spies and things. Alex always seems to be annoyed by those people in the fanfics so I figured his best friend would be a little different. So, yeah, there you go. This isn't related to any story, strictly a one-shot.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider.**

* * *

"You want to what?" Alex asked. He stared at his friend completely dumbfounded. Of all the stupid things Tom could have possibly said, this had to be the stupidest.

"You heard me," Tom said glancing out the window only to have Alex smack him on the arm. Hard. "Ow! Jeez, Alex, no need to be violent."

"I told you not to look out the window," Alex said through gritted teeth. They were out there again.

Since his last mission, one where he'd disappeared for a while only to show up back in London with a case full of Italian mob money and no explanation, MI6 had been watching him like a hawk. Or rather, they had been watching him like a Wolf, Snake, Eagle, and Fox all rolled into one crappy car across the street. Daniels had brought in his training unit to help with supervising him. MI6 didn't want Alex disappearing again to whoever had given him the money or being taken to the person the money had belonged to.

Either one; it depended on who you asked about the motives of the car full of SAS and one Special Ops watching his house. Alex would tell them where the money came from but he couldn't. He had no idea where it had come from; he'd been infiltrating a religious cult in France. The Italian mob never even fit into the equation at all. Unfortunately, Blunt didn't buy it so now K-Unit was outside his house.

He wasn't sure if they knew he knew but it hardly mattered. He'd made a point to be extra boring just to make the long stake out hours seem even longer. He wondered if they were close to killing each other yet.

Jack had seen them and asked. Alex gave her a long winded explanation that made little sense to the redhead and then she'd dropped it. She'd been told about the last mission to some extent by Alex and he had faith that she'd figure it out on her own. But for now, he wanted a little fun. He'd made the mistake of telling Tom that when the boy finally noticed the car that had been sitting out there for three weeks.

Tom came over everyday after school to avoid his parent's continuing screaming matches. That, and Alex had the good TV. It wasn't that Tom wasn't perceptive, he could figure things out twice as fast as their classmates. He'd been the only one to really suspect that while Alex wasn't telling the truth behind his absences, he also wasn't the druggie everyone wrote him off as being. No, Tom was perceptive; he just chose to have his head in the clouds.

So, upon hearing why the four were outside and that Alex was bored, he'd perked right up, plans already forming. Unfortunately, his stupidest was the one he was determined to do.

"Tom, this is a really bad idea," Alex said for the nth time.

"Oh, c'mon Al, lighten up," Tom said, smile spreading to an impossible length. "It'll be fun!"

"Yeah, until we get caught and they kill us," Alex said. Honestly, why could the boy not see how they would die?

"You'll get your revenge," Tom baited. Alex paused at that. It would be a good opportunity to get a little revenge without putting anyone's life in danger. They weren't out there to protect him; they were out there to watch him. Well, they'd certainly see him.

"Fine," Alex said through gritted teeth. "I'll get the paintball guns."

* * *

They had snuck out of the living room on their hands and knees after falling on the floor in the guise of a wrestling match. The window shades had been open it would have been too obvious to just close them. Alex knew they had limited time before the Unit noticed that they were not getting off the floor anytime soon and knowing Fox he'd suspect they'd left. Alex just hoped they didn't think the two boys were up to something else.

They then crawled to the hallway where Jack almost stepped on them but with a quick signal from Alex, she just went upstairs shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Tom stayed in the house while Alex went out to the garage and quickly found the paintball guns and the multi-colored ammo.

He found himself smirking at the thought of K-Unit's reactions to what they were going to do. Tom looked as if he was just containing himself from jumping up and down in excitement like a little kid.

Guns slung of over their shoulders the two exited the house through the kitchen window. Alex was certain one of the Unit would be covering the back door to prevent him from slipping away. However, he doubted they'd take the time to cover the side of the house that had no doors and opened into an alleyway.

The two boys slunk to the front of the house sticking to the shadows. Alex had to admit that Tom was pretty good at sneaking. He made little noise and Alex even had to look back once to make sure the other boy was still there. Reaching the corner Alex quickly ducked down and crawled behind a bush. The hedges were fairly tall and were spaced far enough away from the house wall that the leaves wouldn't move thus giving their location away. The spot they were in was near the corner for a quick get away but was also out of the streetlight's illumination.

It would probably be the first place K-Unit would look but they weren't planning on being out there for too long. They had it all planned out into three phases. Well, Tom had spouted ideas and Alex put them into a plan that would work. The situation may not be deadly and the men would recognize it as a prank instantly, but best not get caught.

A nod from Alex and Tom poked his gun through a small hole in the bush and fired a few shots, then quickly drew it back towards him. The loud clang of the paint splattering on the car broke the silence of the street. A few moments later and Alex saw, through another hole, the driver's door open and heard cursing.

Wolf had his gun drawn but re-holstered it at the sight of the paint. "Damn it," he practically shouted. Eagle and Snake got out to join him. They began talking but since it was in normal tones, Alex couldn't hear.

Alex poked his gun's barrel through a hole, aimed, and fired, quickly drawing it back like Tom had. The paint went through the soldier's semi circle and hit the car in almost the exact spot Tom's paint had hit. They gave a jump of surprise, then wheeled around searching for whoever was doing it. Alex wondered if they would know it was him immediately or suspect some neighborhood kid first. The former was more likely.

Alex saw Eagle make a nod at the bush they were behind and reacted just as planned. He stood up quickly and made a dash around the corner firing a few more rounds over his shoulder. Tom stayed behind as the men gave chase. They passed the bush without ever even seeing him. Alex ran down the alley, crawled back through the open window, shut it, and ducked around the corner before K-Unit was even a quarter way down the dark alleyway.

Meanwhile, Tom slipped back inside via the now unwatched front door.

* * *

Phase Two was much easier. Now that K-Unit knew the boys or, as the Unit thought, boy, was splattering their car with paint they couldn't risk going outside. It would be too easy for them to be caught. They waited an hour for the Unit to settle back into the car with Fox in tow.

Alex had decided that the attic window was the best place to finish this. Jack didn't say anything as he pulled down the steps and the two boys made their way up. He was sure that she just didn't have the will power to care about what they up to now. The attic window over looked the street and was once again out of the streetlight's range of illumination.

It was 10:30 when they began again.

"Ready?" Alex asked, his back at the wall, gun at the ready. Tom was standing on the other side with a wide smile. He nodded and swung the window open. Alex swung to face the now open window, aimed his gun, and fired. He spun back to his original position as Tom grabbed the window handle and closed it quickly but quietly leaving it open an inch. The latch made a lot of noise because it was so old and they were trying to remain as quiet as possible.

They peeked around the corner to see K-Unit once again on the street looking at the paint on the door then at the bush. At a nod from Alex the window swung open again and they repeated the motion. Only this time Alex hit the street right at Eagle's feet causing him to jump with surprise. He may be SAS, but Alex was good at freaking people out. So was Tom, they were very similar.

They repeated once again and this time, the paint hit at Wolf's feet. Alex was sure the soldiers were close to figuring out where the paint shots were coming from this time. They were trained well and if they couldn't figure it out Alex would have been worried for the safety of the country they were entrusted with.

"One more," he mouthed to Tom. The motion was repeated. This time, Alex had aimed a little higher than the street. They heard Snake's loud shout and cursing as the shot hit him dead in the stomach. Peaking around the window frame Alex saw a bright blue splatter on the man's white shirt. He was holding a hand to it and the boys knew a bruise would be forming fast.

Laughing, the two descended the attic stairs and prepared for Phase Three.

* * *

The third and final phase wouldn't be done until sunrise so the two friends got some sleep. Just before the sun made an appearance, when the shadows were the longest, Tom made his exist through the kitchen window to go back to the bush, a can of spray paint in hand.

Alex followed a few minutes later after confirming that the whole Unit was in the car, probably doing a shift change or preparing to leave. Instead of going behind the bush he remained at the corner where he could easily be seen. He didn't bother crouching down, he was supposed be seen.

Alex raised the paintball gun and fired. He ducked back into the shadows as once again, K-Unit came out of the car hoping to give chase again. Alex stepped forward and fired. Eagle howled as the paint hit him in a rather sensitive area. Alex couldn't help but laugh as the man's face went pale. He turned quickly and ran as the others gave chase.

He ditched the gun in the alley, hoped over the fence and ran through the back alleys making sure K-Unit kept him in sight. He couldn't out run them; in fact, he was supposed to get caught. He just had to get far enough to give Tom a little time.

* * *

Tom watched the soldier turn back to the car. He quickly went across the street and ducked down by the trunk just as the door closed. He stood up just enough to see where the man was looking. He was looking at something by the steering wheel, probably a mobile. Tom climbed up on the car carefully so as not to rock it stopping on the roof just behind the open sunroof. He took a peak in and saw the guy texting.

Squeezing the can of spray paint, shaken up in the bushes, he stood and jumped onto the front hood. He spun midair so when he landed he was facing the man. He landed with a loud thud and quickly went to his hands and knees in one fluid motion. The soldier looked up in surprise and before he could react Tom finished Phase Three.

* * *

"You have a lot of nerve," Wolf growled as he hauled the blond boy back towards the car, arm in a vice like grip. They'd caught him a few blocks away from the house and Wolf hadn't let go of his arm since. Alex was sure the man would leave a bruise but he was still having trouble fighting the grin. It was miracle he could smile actually, as all three of them were glaring at him. A saner person would have peed their pants by now. But Alex was hardly sane; he was Tom's friend after all.

"What the fuck were you trying to pull?" Snake growled behind him. Alex made a one shoulder shrug as he couldn't move the arm Wolf was holding in any way, shape, or form.

"Just trying to have a little fun is all," he said innocently. "I was bored."

"Then watch a movie," Wolf said harshly. "Don't fire paintballs at us."

"You're the one spying on me," Alex said surprised at how childish that had come out. He pressed on anyway. "You were fair game."

"We aren't here to spy, Alex," Fox told him. Alex threw him a glare over his shoulder.

"Sorry if I don't believe that you weren't doing what you're paid to do," he snapped. Fox just narrowed his eyes at him.

"You're supposed to be a pro," he said, not so subtly reminding Alex what that his job required a certain level of maturity.

"I'm fourteen," he said back. "I'm allowed to act stupid once in a while. Besides, what's the worst that could have happened. Blunt's little spies got some paint on them? Balls a little sore? Stomach a little bruised?" They didn't have a response to that. Alex was surprised at how bitter he sounded. He hadn't thought he felt that way but apparently, Blunt sending the SAS to watch him like some kind of common terrorist had pissed him off.

SCORPIA aside, he thought he'd be given a little more trust. He didn't know where the money came from, he'd found it and took it back with him. Big deal.

They reached the car to find Eagle leaning against it, arms crossed, and scowl working over time. He looked none to pleased to see Alex. It wasn't the best of reunions, Alex had to admit.

Eagle had barely said two words to him at training and he's just shot a paintball at the man's balls for no apparent reason. He'd be pissed too. But for now, Alex could only fight another smile.

"Um, Eagle?" Fox said. "What's with the windshield?"

The others looked past the scowling soldier to see the glass in question. Written in bright blue letters was, **CUB ROX**.

"Who did that?" Wolf asked, confused about the sudden appearance of a message Alex couldn't have possibly written.

"Cub had a partner," Eagle said voice hard, face still pale. "He got away."

"He got away?" Snake asked.

"He hopped a fence into an alley," Eagle replied his glare never leaving Alex who just lifted his chin a bit in defiance. "And I can't bend that way quite yet."

"You won't bend that way for a week," Alex told him.

"Cub," Fox groaned hands going down his face in an exasperated movement. "Why the hell did you come up with this?"

"Oh, this wasn't my idea," Alex said smile firmly in place. "That was all Tom."

"Tom?" Snake questioned and Alex gave a nod.

"My accomplice," Alex replied. "He's a bit insane."

"Like you?" Eagle said. His glare had softened a notch but he certainly didn't look less pissed, just tired.

"Oh, course," Alex replied. "You can't be Tom's friend without being insane."

"Funny, I'd have thought it would be the other way around," Fox said. Alex gave another one shouldered shrug. Apparently, Wolf thought he'd bolt at any second.

"There's a reason we're best friends," he said. At that moment the front door to the house opened and Alex heard a shout.

"Hey, Al!" The entire group turned to see Tom leaning casually against the doorframe, a smirk playing on his lips at the sight of Eagle's shocked and annoyed expression.

"What?" Alex called back.

"Jack wants to know if she should make extra for your friends!" Alex turned back to the soldiers, who looked shocked. Whether it was over being called his friends or the fact that Tom had slipped past all four of them three times in one night, it was impossible to tell.

"You guys want breakfast?"

* * *

Huh, I really did enjoy writing this. Like I said, I'd gotten a few requests to write something along these lines. If anybody has anyother requests for stories you can totally PM me. I love challenges.


	2. The Hostage Situation

Hey guy! So I really enjoyed writing about Tom and Alex so i decided to continue with it in a series of different scenes. Basically a bunch of one-shots. Let me know what you think of this.

* * *

It had been a nerve racking twelve hours for Alex Rider. Of all the enemies to come back for revenge, Alex hadn't quite expected this one. Roger Patterson was the very angry brother of a man Alex had taken down a few weeks prior.

The brother, Mark, had been using the students of his elite boarding school to smuggle illicit items across the globe in private jets. The rich kids were bribed or scared into complying and the operation had reached such a level of success that it quickly caught MI6's attention.

So Alex had disappeared from school with 'pneumonia' and sent to stop it. In the end, Headmaster Patterson had been thrown down the main stairs of the school's historic and beautiful front entry by some highly disgruntled students; he cracked his head on the marble stair before Alex could do anything.

He hadn't given it much thought. Mostly because he didn't have much pity for Patterson. The man had, after all, tried to blow him up in a 'vicious science prank gone wrong'. Alex had ended up doing what he always did: report to MI6, go home, calm Jack down, go to bed, take a day, back to school. He'd told Tom a little more detail about the mission than normal. As far as missions went, it hadn't been the worst.

But Mark Patterson had managed to pass on some very important information to his brother before he'd died. Roger never knew that Alex was working for MI6, just that he was a nosey teenager in a position to ruin their entire operation. So it was Alex Roger blamed, and Alex he sought revenge against. It came in form Alex really should have expected.

Tom was home alone that Saturday afternoon when Roger Patterson broke in, tying the black boy to a chair at gunpoint. Tom's parents were in America visiting his ever migrating brother. The 'temporary guardian', really a hired nanny, had gone to the store. The man proceeded to call the number he believed to be Alex's, which had been taken from the boy's fake file at the boarding school. The number was the usual fake in his files and was rerouted through the MI6 switchboards. Unfortunately, Patterson had discovered that the file was indeed fake and had spent close to a fortune, tracking Alex down through the hospital and then through London's public records.

The "answering machine" clicked on, recording the man's threat to kill Tom Harris if Alex wasn't handed over immediately. The machine was connected to a program that would scan the recorded messages for certain keywords. Since Tom Harris was on the list of Alex's closest friends and thus a potential target, his name triggered an alert.

The alert went straight to Mrs. Jones's personal mobile and it was she who mobilized the rescue. Since Patterson believed he was dealing with a fairly normal boy, it was decided to keep the ruse going for as long as possible. The police were called with various MI6 operatives moving discreetly among them.

K-Unit, who just happened to in London on guard-the-important-people-in-the-unnecessary-government-convention duty, was put on point as they knew both boys personally. Well, maybe not personally, but enough for it to matter. With Eagle having the most negotiations training, he was the one to talk to the Perpetrator.

Alex was driven down to Tom's house to play whatever part he needed to play.

"He has him tied to a chair, and they're barricaded in the panty," Wolf told him.

"So there's no way of taking him down without Tom being hurt," Alex replied, taking the offered seat in the large police van.

"No," Wolf said. "Is there anything you know that would help?" Alex shook his head.

"Everything I know about the Pattersons is in the file," he said, pointing to the file in Fox's hands, who was once again playing the part of MI6 liaison.

"I meant about the house and you're friend," Wolf said. "I've already read Patterson's file."

"Well, I assume you've got the blueprints to the house?" Wolf nodded. "Then there's not much I can tell you other than to move fast. Tom's bound to be a terrible hostage."

"What makes you say that?" Snake asked, glancing away from a monitor that was currently displaying the back door leading to the kitchen from the outside.

"You've met him," Alex said vaguely. He saw Eagle wince.

"I couldn't jump a fence for a week, they were so bruised," he said darkly, referring to the time he'd been shot in the balls with a paintball by Alex and Tom. Despite the severity of the situation, Alex found himself fighting a smile.

* * *

"Why are you doing this?" Tom asked. Normally when a hostage asked that question, their voices were filled with terror and/or despair. But Tom had been tied to his mother's antique, stiff back chair for hours now. Whatever terror he'd felt for being held hostage at gunpoint for the first time in his life had long passed into boredom. His tone conveyed that boredom.

"You're best friend killed my brother," the man spat. Tom didn't even know the guy's name. He knew what the guy was talking about, but Alex hadn't given any names. He was sure that if he looked it up he'd find plenty of names, dates, and locations in some article. After all, it wasn't very often that the Headmaster of an elite boarding school got thrown down a set of marble steps by some very pissed off students. But Tom just couldn't be bothered to find exact details; he was more concerned with Alex's most recent set of bruises and that he was breathing fine. He just cared that his best friend had made it back in one piece.

"Your brother tried to kill my best friend," Tom shot back, much to his kidnapper's surprise. He clearly hadn't expected the boy to know such things.

"He deserves what's coming to him," the man spat. He spat most of words, Tom noted. He decided to call him Spitter.

* * *

"Do you think he'll do anything stupid?" Wolf asked.

"He's tied to a chair," Alex reminded him.

"Yes, Cub, we're aware of that," Fox said, reverting to Alex's codename in his annoyance.

"Well, then he won't _do_ anything," Alex snapped. "Tom is a normal kid. He has no idea how to get out of situations like this. At least, not on the physical level."

"Physical level?" Snake asked confused.

"He might try to talk his way out," Alex said, biting down on a thumbnail in frustration.

"Do you think he can?" Eagle asked, looking a little worried at the potential of having to talk down an unstable man from killing a hostage who'd just pissed him off.

Alex gave a shrug already lost in thought. If he had to compare Tom to something from his spy world he'd say Jones. Tom wasn't anywhere near as cold as Blunt but for a fifteen year old, he was fairly manipulative. He was also pretty smart and just by listening to Alex he knew more about the dangerous games people play than most their age, even if he had yet to live it.

Alex was banking on Tom's innate ability to know exactly what to say (a rare gift indeed) to keep himself from getting killed. It also helped that Tom wasn't the one Patterson wanted, it was Alex.

* * *

Spitter had brought Tom's cordless kitchen phone into the pantry with them. Yet, the man had only made one phone call and hadn't answered the dozen or so phone calls in the last few hours. Tom was sitting fully back in the uncomfortable chair, every now and then shifting his ankles and wrists. His head was leaning back and his eyes were closed.

He wasn't tired or even trying to give off a false aura of casualness; he was simply trying not to look at the food. After the fifth ring of what seemed to be the thousandth call, Tom's eyes snapped open.

"Just answer it already," he snapped, not registering the fact that he'd just ordered around the man threatening to kill him. "They aren't going to stop calling."

Spitter glared but said nothing. The man let the phone stop ringing, then five minutes later actually answered it when it started up again.

Listening to the one-sided negotiation process was nerve racking as Spitter went from calm to guarded to agitated to angry and back. Tom wondered if somebody had stupidly handed the phone to Alex, or worse, his mother. Both could easily elicit such a wide range of reactions in so short a conversation.

Tom was startled out of his worry when Spitter held the phone to his ear so he could talk.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tom, its Alex."

"Al! What the hell have you gotten me into?"

"Sorry, dude, didn't think this would happen. Are you okay?"

"I'm hungry."

"You're in a panty."

"True, but we're all out of Ramen and the cookies we got from Maddie are spoiled." He didn't get the chance to say anything else as Spitter took the phone from his ear and hung up.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Fox said after Patterson hung up. They'd all listened in while the conversation was being recorded. Alex couldn't help but give a small laugh at his training Unit's complete confusion over the short conversation with Tom the Hostage.

"That was a code," Alex said.

"Code?" Snake probed. Alex nodded.

"Yeah, after I got back from a, uh, nasty mission," he began, choosing to leave the name of SCORPIA out of it, "We decided to come up with a code in case there was an emergency and we couldn't talk freely."

"Oookaaay," Eagle said, drawing out the word to show he wasn't quite catching on. "What's the code?"

"It's all in the last sentence," Alex answered.

"Where he sounds insane?" Fox interrupted.

"Yeah, Tom doesn't think like normal people so I thought that if he came up with code it would be more natural for him to use and he'd remember it easier. I think he was thinking about food when he made it," Alex said with a shrug as Wolf rolled his eyes.

"Just tell us what it means," he ordered.

"Well, 'Maddie' means 'the crazy person'," Alex said.

"Patterson," Eagle confirmed, jotting it down on a notepad in front of him.

"'Cookies' means 'gun' and 'spoiled' means 'old'," he continued, ignoring the Unit's strange looks.

"So, the guns you got from Patterson are old?" Eagle asked, eyebrows bunched in confusion. "When did Patterson give you guns?"

"No," Alex said, rolling his eyes. "Patterson is using an old gun. His brother kept a case of old handguns in his private rooms. I didn't think they were serviceable."

"What kind were they?" Wolf asked.

"I don't know," Alex said. "I think they were custom. But they looked like old revolvers, hold like six shots each."

"He said cookies, as in plural," Eagle pointed out. "Does that mean more than one gun?" Alex shook his head.

"No, if there were multiple weapons, he would have said 'sprinkles'," Alex informed them. Eagle nodded with a weird look on his face and the group fell silent for a moment before Fox spoke.

"What about the Ramen?"

"I honestly don't know," Alex said mulling it over.

"You don't?" Snake asked and Alex shook his head.

"There are two possibilities," he said. "Either Tom made up a new codeword and forgot to tell me."

"Or?" Wolf probed when Alex paused, trying to figure out a way to make his friend sound less crazy.

"Or, they really are out of Ramen," he said.

"Is there something wrong with your friend's head?" Wolf asked suddenly after a brief moment of silence.

"No, why?" Alex asked forcefully, feeling defensive.

"Well, you said yourself that he was supposed to be a normal kid," Snake said. "Normal kids wouldn't be reacting like this. They'd be freaking out."

"What's your point?" Alex asked, arms crossed.

"Is he insane?" Eagle deadpanned.

"No," Alex answered. "He just wants people to think he is."

"Why?" Wolf asked.

"It lets him do what he wants without having to explain himself." They didn't have an answer to that.

* * *

"It'll never work you know," Tom said to the pacing figure in front of him. Granted there wasn't much room to pace in his pantry, but Spitter was managing it. His gun was held loosely in his hand and he was ignoring Tom.

The boy was talkative by nature and with Spitter doing little to keep him holding his tongue, Tom talked. The man barely said anything and held the gun awkwardly, like he didn't quite know what to do with it. But the man was stubborn and was refusing to give in. Tom wouldn't be surprised if there were cops just beyond the panty door, waiting for the first clear shot they got.

Despite the severity of the situation, Tom couldn't help the mind numbing boredom that had somehow settled on him. He idly wondered if Alex felt like this too when he was captured.

* * *

"We're going in," Wolf said when he stepped back inside the van.

"I thought it was established that going in wasn't the best option," Fox said.

"They think they've got a sure fire plan," Wolf said.

"Where's Cub?" Eagle asked. The boy had stepped out nearly an hour ago to "take a leak". When he still wasn't back after twenty minutes Wolf had gone to look for him, muttering something about cocky teenage spies who needed GPS and backup to go from the bathroom to a fucking chair.

"Finalizing the plan," Wolf said stiffly.

"Thought he was going to the bathroom," Eagle said sounding amused. Wolf just shrugged, not even bothering to show his annoyance with the boy anymore. Over the course of the now eleven hour hostage situation, K-Unit had come to realize that showing annoyance at the things Cub did and said was ultimately a waste of time and energy while all but encouraging the boy to continue.

It had been made fairly obvious, rather quickly, that the man they were dealing with wasn't a professional or even fully crazy as Tom had so subtly tried to point out. No, he seemed more confused than anything.

Eagle stayed behind to monitor cameras and after Wolf's quick briefing of the plan, the other three prepared equipment, checked weapons, and left.

* * *

"It'll never work," Tom repeated trying to draw Spitter into a conversation. He'd just seen the small camera probe slither under the door but glanced up quickly so as not to draw attention to it. He hoped that meant they were moving in. He was tired, hungry, and had to pee.

The emotional rollercoaster that came with being held captive for the first time had left the normally energetic boy exhausted. Spitter also hadn't allowed him to eat anything even though they were sitting in the damn pantry staring at food for hours on end. Tom considered it torture. He'd also had a fairly large bottle of Gatorade when he'd come home from practice that day. That meant he was currently holding 36 fl. Oz. of sports drink in a 28 fl. Oz. bladder.

He didn't even have the luxury of bouncing his leg up and down to help hold it in because the ropes around his ankles were so damn tight. The boy hoped whatever they were planning wouldn't scare him at any point as he was likely to wet himself.

"You keep saying that," Spitter said, surprising Tom out of his thoughts. The boy had mostly been talking to himself during his stint of captivity in his pantry. It was a pleasant surprise to hear another voice, even if it was just Spitter's.

"It's true," Tom replied. When Spitter just looked at him with his balding hair all rumpled and the sweat dripping off his face, saying nothing, Tom continued. "They're not just going hand over some kid for you to kill because you're threatening another. They can't. Even if you do shoot me, you won't get away. You've talked to the cop; you know they've got the place surrounded. Just give up man. It's over."

"I can still use you," he said with a tone that suggested he was grasping at straws. Tom shook his head and forced a look of sympathy.

"Not for long," he said. "They'll come for me eventually, even if we are in tight quarters. If you hurt me, it'll only make it worse on you. People get real uptight about kids getting hurt."

Tom would have continued had his eyes not begun to sting so painfully he had to shut them as tight as he could. He let out a grunt of pain and didn't even bother to feel stupid as the tears rolled down his cheeks. He clenched his teeth as he heard Spitter fumbling around and cursing.

He snapped his eyes open in surprise when the door slammed open. He saw several men in combat gear all but tackle Spitter to the ground. The pantry was filled with a white smoke and the men had gas masks on. Tom slammed his eyes shut again as he felt the ropes around his ankles and wrists slide off.

"Let's get you out of here," a man said and Tom was pretty sure he'd heard that voice before. The man heaved him out of the chair and helped him stumble out of the house to a police van parked at the curb. He heard the neighbors applauding and cheering but took no notice. He was too busy trying to rub the sting out of his eyes.

He was also too busy feeling relieved that he was alive. He didn't know how Alex Rider could do this all the time.

* * *

Alex felt his shoulders sag in relief when Wolf helped Tom stumble into the van. His friend was still teary from the gas they'd pumped into the ventilation system of the house. It was the only way Alex could think of to get the gas into the pantry without Patterson noticing it too soon. Negotiations had been going nowhere and Alex knew they had to get Tom out of there before things spun out of control.

Once the man had been sufficiently blinded, Snake and Fox had all but dog piled him if Wolf's story was to be believed. The two were still dealing with Patterson when Tom blinked the last of the gas from his eyes.

"Oh god," he moaned. "Ow!" The three SAS trained people in the van just laughed.

"You okay Tom?" Alex asked, his smile never leaving his face.

"No I'm not okay!" Tom snapped irritably. "I've been a hostage for who knows how long!"

"Twelve hours," Eagle informed him. Tom grunted as he stood again.

"Where are you going?" Wolf asked. "We have to debrief you."

"It'll wait," Tom said, opening the van's door. "I have something important to do."

"What?" Wolf growled. Tom, undaunted, jumped to the street.

"Pee, eat, nap," the boy replied. "In that order." Tom disappeared as Wolf gave an annoyed huff and Alex shook his head at his friend.

Tom would be fine.


	3. The Blackmailer

Tom Harris was many things. Not as many as Alex Rider granted, but still many things. He was a football player, a good student, a little brother, a son, and a damn good lair. He was also the best friend of a hero/soldier/spy/idiot. Tom only discovered how well he could lie when he had to start lying for Alex. When you had to lie because someone could die you made damn sure it was a lie that was believable. And Tom had acquired the skill of spinning a web of lies for his friend. Some were obvious, like the oh-he's-sick-again lie.

Nobody fell for that one anymore. But he would still use it. Rarely could someone find fault with it other than, "Surely his immune system isn't _that_ crappy."

Tom remembers when he met the blond boy that came to be so many different things. They'd been five at the time and even then the boy was an enigma, quiet and full of surprises. He remembers when they became real friends. They were nine and Alex had saved his arse from a beat down from a bunch of twelve year olds and in Tom's mission to thank the boy they'd gotten close. Unfortunately, it wasn't until Ian Rider's death and Alex's chronic disappearance that Tom was able to prove just how good of a friend he could be.

Tom could read Alex better than anyone. Probably better than his bosses even, and especially better than Jack. He could tell when the other boy was lying. Alex started lying a lot that year he became a spy. At first he wrote it off as grief. Tom understood what it was like to bury a family member having buried his older sister when he was seven. But unlike Alex, Tom had other family around. While Jack was a great guardian and all there was only so much she could do.

So while his classmates spun wild stories and created conspiracy theories that should have made little sense to anyone who knew Alex longer than ten minutes, Tom worried about his friend and ignored them all.

He'd stopped by the house after Alex's first missed week to see how his friend was holding up but Jack said he wasn't there. Out of town, she said. Tom knew the other boy had no where else to go. Where was he?

When Alex did return he seemed different. Again, Tom wrote it off as grief.

Then Alex left again. And again. And again. And each time he came back he was a little more different. A little quieter, snappier, guarded, and tense. And always with an injury.

The rumors flew for months, getting wilder and wilder with each disappearance. For a while Tom just gritted his teeth and let them say what they felt they needed to say. He'd never believed any of it. Alex wasn't the druggie type. He was stronger than that. Alex wasn't in a gang. He wasn't violent like that. Alex wasn't in a psyche ward. He was the last in his family, almost completely alone. He was just grieving.

But even the dumbest of their peers could tell Alex was morphing into something else. There something about the boy that was very familiar to Tom. Something in his eyes, how he talked, how he acted.

Alex was never extremely popular despite his annoying good lucks and confidence coupled with his position on the football team. He didn't like basking in attention.

Tom watched as the few "close" friends Alex had bended and broke to the pressure. They each gave their own little tidbits of information that usually only friends had the right to know. And suddenly everyone knew that Alex had nobody left expect for some random American housekeeper.

The day Tom finally snapped was when one particularly jealous rival of Alex's all but spat on the family Alex had lost. He'd punched the boy in the mouth. Nobody messed with Tom after that. They kept their most vile rumors away from his ears. He heard them anyway because someone would always take pity and inform him of what the people were saying. And each time Tom would do his best to put a stop to it.

It went above and beyond the normal title of friend he knew. It didn't help that Alex didn't tell him what was going on with him. Tom just figured it was his business and if he wanted to talk he could. Alex didn't deserve what was happening to him. All he had done was lose his uncle. How could they hate him for that?

* * *

On the plane to Venice, Alex confided in him and told Tom the truth. And despite how ridiculous it sounded to have a fourteen year old spy in anything other than the movies, Tom believed him. Because suddenly things made sense. The way Alex carried himself, that look in his eyes, Tom was finally able to place it. His neighbor, a Vietnam veteran originally from America, had that same air about him. Tom had spent enough time with the nice man to know that haunted look and guarded aura came from battle. From doing and seeing things that were beyond Tom's scope of reason.

Tom understood why Alex had chosen the plane. Tom couldn't just walk away from him. Alex told him what he could, or at least what he thought his friend could handle. When Alex was done Tom surprised him with the only two words he could think of.

"Thank you." Alex's shocked expression almost made him laugh. It wasn't often he got to see that face.

"For what?" It was obvious by Alex's tone that he had no idea where Tom was going with this.

"For trusting me," Tom replied. "That's one intense secret Al."

"Yeah, I guess it is," Alex said, recovering fast.

"Any chance of you telling the rest of the school?" Tom asked and Alex was immediately irritated.

"Why would I do that?" he snapped.

"So your best friend could the ultimate 'I told you so' moment." Alex responded with a very solid punch to his arm.

An hour later saw an extremely annoyed Alex Rider leave the plane as he was forced to listen to Tom whine about receiving the fist sized bruise on his arm unfairly. After all, it had only been a suggestion.

* * *

Alex was pissed. Tom could see that very clearly. They were standing at Alex's locker at the end of the day and Alex was reading a note that had been slipped through the vent of the locker door. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"You alright there, Alex?" Tom asked. It was Friday and Tom was spending the night at Alex's place again. He was kind of hoping K-Unit would be out there. Attacking them with paintballs had been fun and he wanted another crack at it just to see how long they would last without getting caught.

"No," Alex hissed. "Look at this." Alex handed him the note. It was written in a girly script and Tom immediately thought it was a love note. That notion was dashed rather quickly.

_Rider,_

_I know you blew up the Science building. I know you murdered someone doing it. And I _

_have proof. I want __3,000 by Monday or I go to the police._

"Dude!" Tom exclaimed, eyes wide. "Someone's blackmailing you!"

"Really Tom?" Alex said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Did you come up with that all by yourself? Very astute."

"Hey, man, don't take this out on me," Tom snapped. "You're going to need my help."

"Oh really?" Alex asked one eyebrow rising. Tom gave him a smirk and nodded.

"I know this handwriting," he said. "I saw it every English lesson last year. We were even partners for that essay project."

"Who is it?" Alex asked, amusement and sarcasm suddenly gone.

"Melissa Harper," Tom replied. "I don't why she's only demanding three thousand. She needs like eight for the tuition to some fancy boarding school she wants to go to."

"Do you really think she has proof?" Alex asked as they made their way out of the school and to Alex's house. Tom nodded.

"Melissa wants to be a director," he told his friend. "She's like attached to her camera. Probably has the whole thing on film." Alex let out a groan and mumbled something like, "Blunt's gonna be pissed." They didn't continue the conversation until they were in his kitchen.

Jack was out at the moment and the note on the fridge said she wouldn't back until eight that night.

"Do you know where Melissa lives?" Alex asked him grabbing a bag of Cheetos and sitting across from Tom at the table.

"Yeah, why?" he asked mouth stuffed with cheese flavored snack.

"We need to get that tape," Alex said absently. Tom almost chocked.

"Alex!" he almost shouted. "You can't break into her house. What if you get caught? That's a murder charge plus a breaking and entering!"

"Then what do we do?" Alex asked and Tom was surprised at how he seemed at a loss. Alex could handle blackmail. What he couldn't handle very well were normal kids. Melissa would in no respond well to any threat Alex may devise to keep her quiet. And it was not a good idea to expose the girl to MI6. She was only a classmate with some rather incriminating evidence. Not a terrorist.

"Convince her to give it to you and then destroy it," Tom said with a shrug. "Or pay her. Either way she should be gone by next semester."

"I don't have her number," Alex said. Tom ignored that for now. He kind of wanted to know what the girl was even talking about.

"Why did you blow up the science building?" he asked.

"I had to kill the clone," Alex said absently. Tom gave him a weird look. Alex told him about Point Blanc in more detail than he originally had and when he was done Tom shook his head as if trying to clear it.

"Jeez, Al," was all he could muster in response. They were quiet for a little bit until Tom asked, "Do you want to talk to her or should I?" Alex paused to think a moment.

"You should," he said. "You know her better." Tom finished his mouth full of snack then dug out his Blackberry, found the girl's number, and dialed. It took her three rings to answer.

"Hey Tom!" she squealed. Melissa was a squealer.

"Hey 'Lissa," he said. "So, I hear you're into blackmailing now. Is that going to be a side career to your director dream job?" His tone was none to friendly and heavy in sarcasm. Her pause was enough for him to know that she knew he was pissed and that she was caught.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said slowly. Even Tom could tell she was lying. He was used to reading Alex after all. Everyone else was just too easy.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you do," Tom said. "Trust me Melissa, this isn't a good idea."

"I need that money Tom," she said coldly.

"I'm sure you do," he said. "But you should know that this isn't a good idea. You don't want to go through with this."

"It's just Rider," she said. "He's a wuss. He couldn't even talk to me himself. Had to have you do it." Tom easily caught the fault with her logic.

"You claim he murdered someone and blew up a building," Tom reminded her. "Not very wuss-like behavior." Alex gave him a strange look as he was only listening to one side of the conversation. Melissa paused and Tom wondered what was going through her head.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"It's a bit obvious isn't it?" he asked perhaps a bit too mockingly. "I want that tape."

"No," she said firmly.

"No?"

"I need that money Tom," she said. "I can't pay my tuition without it."

"Ever hear of a scholarship?" he snapped. "Or a damn loan? I know the banks are in a bit of crisis but I'm sure they can spare three grand. You don't want to do this."

"He's not going to pay me, is he?" she asked. Tom paused to look at Alex and mouthed the words, "Would you pay her?" Alex shook his head 'no'.

"No, he isn't," Tom said.

"Then I'm turning it in," she said. "No pay means jail." She sounded smug, as if she had them. Tom didn't feel backed into a corner at all. Even with his limited experience with blackmailing, he could easily see all her mistakes. Of course, if they had done things Alex's way they wouldn't even be talking with her but Tom didn't think breaking and entering was a good idea. She might still set the cops on his friend.

"I don't think you will," Tom told her matching her smug tone.

"Why not?"

"Because if you turn that tape in, we'll turn you in for extortion," he said. "That means no boarding school. They'll never take you if you have a record." He heard her gasp as that reality hit her.

"You don't have any proof," she snarled.

"How about this lovely blackmail letter? In your handwriting?" he said and saw Alex give him an amused smirk. "Really Melissa, you should have done the whole magazine letters on the paper thing. It took us all of a minute to figure out it was you. I recognized your handwriting and it will be all too easy for the cops to nail your arse to the wall."

"I'm not giving it to you," she said. "And if you turn the letter in, I'll turn him in." Great, they were at a stalemate. Tom considered his next move. Alex would be pissed if he did it, but they couldn't leave that video with Melissa. It was dangerous not only for Alex but for her. Tom had no desire to meet the heads of MI6 and he was sure Melissa wouldn't find it a pleasurable experience either.

"Fine," he said. "Then think about this. There's a reason I'm talking to you and not him. You claim he killed someone, what makes you think he won't come after you?" Yup, Alex looked pissed. While he waited for Melissa to respond he covered the mouthpiece so Alex could talk.

"What the hell are you doing?" Alex hissed. "You're making me sound like a monster!"

"Well, if I made you sound like the fucking Care Bears she'd either turn it in or keep blackmailing you because she wouldn't be scared of your reaction!" Tom hissed back. Alex gave him an annoyed look but let him continue.

"He won't come after me," she said but didn't sound as if she believed her own words.

"I don't know, he's pretty pissed," Tom said not entirely untruthfully. "Just give me the tape and this'll all blow over."

"If I give it to you," she said. "He won't hurt me?" Tom felt bad about having to paint such an ugly picture of his friend but he didn't see any other way around it. Tom wasn't dumb; he knew MI6 shouldn't get involved with this and if Alex was arrested for breaking and entering that would be exactly what would happen. At the very least, they were shielding Melissa from a potential nightmare. The girl was desperate and a little dumb but she wasn't a monster.

"No, he won't hurt you," Tom said. "He won't even talk to you."

"Fine," she said. "You can pick up the only copy tomorrow. I didn't hide it in the house and I'm babysitting tonight."

"Sounds good," he said. "I'll be over about noon." He hung up after that. "She'll give me the only copy tomorrow."

"Thanks, Tom," Alex said with a smile. Tom just shrugged.

"Whatever," he said. "No big deal." They sat in silence for a few minutes before Tom broke it.

"This all Wolf's fault you know?" Tom said and Alex gave him a sharp look.

"How is this Wolf's fault?" he asked.

"He let the clone get away in the first place," Tom told him. "Honestly, all he had to do was lock down the school and secure the clones. How hard is that? He would have known if he was missing one because there would only be one of you." Alex looked highly amused at that.

"Well, if you want to complain, I can pull a few strings and hook you up with his number," Alex replied. "And then you can tell him what a shitty job he did at Point Blanc." Tom knew Wolf on a certain level. Wolf was scary.

"No, that's okay," Tom said quickly. "Best not to cause him any trouble. Besides, it might hurt his feelings."

"That's what I thought."


	4. In Hospital

So I varied a little bit from Horowitz's discription of Alex's hospital stay after being shot just other than that it mostly canon. Enjoy!

* * *

When you were Alex Rider's best friend there were certain things that were required of you. Patience was one. Compassion was another. But bravery was the most important. You had to stand up for him while the whole school tried to tear him down. You had to be able to listen to him tell you that you could die for being his friend, and then ignore the warning. You also had to be able to face the fact that when he disappeared, he might not come back.

Tom Harris knew all this. After a year of Alex disappearing for dangerous missions that he himself could never do, Tom was resigned to the fact that his best friend had become more of a fleeting thought. You could no longer make long term plans with Alex Rider because it was very likely he wouldn't be there when the time came.

Tom remembers once when Alex was home for a mere few weeks and they were doing surveys for a project in English class. Tom had asked him what he wanted to be like in five years. Alex had replied with a simple, "Alive." Tom had already known the secret by then and had forced a small laugh before telling the blond boy to stop being so dramatic and answer the damn question. So Alex gave a lie and things were smoothed over. It was the first time that Tom was able to recognize the fact that Alex was constantly in danger.

Alex disappeared a lot, and while Tom didn't think it would ever seem normal, he did get used to it. People always asked why he would hang around that druggie Rider. Tom would always reply, with an all knowing smirk on his face, that Alex kept it interesting. Which was true, Alex kept life very interesting. Alex was a hero, but with heroes came foes and Tom's friend had plenty of those.

It was one of these foes, on one of these missions that put Tom in a position that was sadly becoming familiar. Alex had been poisoned. They wouldn't tell him by who or what, just that it was a nasty mix of chemicals. Jack picked him up at his house and together they went to St. Dominic's. Alex was air lifted in from wherever he was when it happened.

His unit was there, Tom noted through his numbness. He caught a brief glimpse of Alex as they wheeled him through the doors of the hospital. He was pale and unconscious. His clothes were torn and dirty. He had an all new set of bruises.

It was a sight he'd only seen once before, but it was a sight he'd probably see again. Jack left with the doctors to talk medical history and other junk he didn't care about. Tom just made his way to the waiting area of Alex's ward. Then he did what he always did. He waited and hoped the other boy didn't die on him.

After all, Alex still owed him twenty pounds for that bet he'd lost last week and Tom fully intended to collect.

* * *

"Hey."

Tom glanced up from the TV he was watching to see a soldier he recognized. Tom had been sitting there for three hours now, just waiting.

"Hey," he replied as the man took a seat next to him. "Eagle, right?" The man nodded.

"I thought I'd give you a bit of an update," Eagle told him. "They got an antidote in him." He paused there, probably trying to figure out the wording to his next statement so as not to hurt Tom. The boy wasn't stupid though. He knew what could happen.

"But he still might die," he blurted out. The man didn't seem overly surprised by that though.

"Yeah," he agreed. "We'll know if he'll make it if he wakes up. It's all a big wait now." They fell silent for a few moments before Eagle broke it.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked. Tom nodded, looking over at him. He was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, hands loosely clasped. "What's with the weird code?" Tom couldn't help it, he laughed. K-Unit had heard all about Tom's codeword making skills when he'd been held hostage some months prior.

"Alex had just come back from a really bad mission," he said, noticing with some amusement that the guy was listening intently. "He suggested the code so we could get important messages to each other even if we couldn't talk freely. He said I should come up with the code words so that it would be easier for me to remember."

"That's what Cub said," Eagle told him.

"Alex looked so serious," Tom continued, his eyes going a bit dull as he remembered that day. "He was so tired. So I came up with the craziest shit I could, just to get him to laugh."

"Did he?"

"When I told him the code word for his boss was going to be 'cupcake', yeah, he laughed pretty hard." Tom had never met the man, wasn't even sure what his name was, but apparently Eagle had because he started laughing.

"Do you know his boss?" he asked. Tom shook his head. "If you did, you'd know why that was so funny."

"I think I get it without meeting him," Tom said and Eagle just nodded.

"You seem to be handling all this fairly well," Eagle noted after another silence had fallen on them. Tom got the impression that Eagle was a chatty person same as he was.

"This isn't the first time I've had to wait in a hospital for him," Tom said. When Eagle gave him a questioning look, he continued. "A couple of months ago I get a phone call from Jack at one in the morning. Tells me to come down to this hospital. Tells me I have to say my goodbyes to him. They didn't think he'd make it through the night."

"What happened?"

"He survived," Tom said, blatantly ignoring the real meaning behind that question. He may not be the superspy Alex was but it would take a lot more to get him to spill those secrets. Eagle looked a little annoyed but let it slide.

"You get used to it," Tom said quietly, more to himself than to Eagle. "It's just part of being his friend."

"Cub's strong," Eagle said. "He'll be alright." Tom appreciated the sentimentality, however lame or forced it sounded.

"Yeah, Alex has a tendency to survive things he shouldn't. He's just cool like that." Eagle gave a small snort of amusement.

"Yeah, you should hear this story Wolf tells about the time he worked with Cub in France," he said absently.

"Oh, when Al got hit by a train?" Eagle looked at him sharply, obviously not expecting him to know that.

"Cub told you about that?"

"He tells me about all his missions," Tom said with a shrug. "Not every detail but enough for him to feel better. I usually turn something he tells me into a joke. It helps sometimes." Eagle a small nod of acknowledgement to the point. "When he told me about the train, I asked him how he could be so good at saving the world when he hadn't even mastered the art of looking both ways. I mean they teach you that when you start walking!" Eagle was laughing again. Tom thought he was one of those guys who laughed easily. It seemed natural for him.

"What did Cub say to that?" he asked, fully amused.

"Just told me to shut up," Tom said with a wide smile. "He says that a lot but I don't think he ever really means it." Eagle gave another smile and looked ready to say something else when Jack ran into the waiting area.

"Tom!" she shouted and both of them were instantly on their feet. Tom felt a wave of relief at Jack's smile. "He's awake."

Tom all but forgot Eagle in his haste to follow Jack back to Alex's room. The boy looked just as sickly as earlier and shockingly vulnerable with all the tubes and wires connected to him. He had one wide tube going down his throat for reasons Tom didn't pretend to know. It kept Alex from talking but since he looked so exhausted Tom didn't think he really cared. His eyes were dull but he didn't seem incoherent. He seemed to recognize them when they came in. Tom gave his friend his usual sarcastic greeting.

"Jesus, Al," he said lightly with a big smile that, in his relief of an alive best friend, wasn't forced at all. "I know you want to avoid that stalker girl whose been trying to get you to go to Spring Formal with her, and while I agree wholeheartedly for wanting to avoid that one mate, don't you think dying is going just a little too far?"

And even though Alex Rider couldn't say it, the response was clear in his eyes and what little expression he could form in his exhaustion.

Shut up, Tom.

* * *

"Well?" Fox asked as Eagle rejoined his team about meter away from Cub's door. Fox was now officially back with the SAS.

"Funny kid, that one," Eagle said with a smile.

"That wasn't why we sent you over there," Wolf growled. "What does he know?"

"Sounds like a lot," Eagle reported, turning serious. "Knows enough details to make him an even bigger target than just simply being Cub's friend would. But the kid seems smart, won't get tricked out of details he doesn't know you already know. I only got him to talk about one mission and it was only because he already knew I knew about it."

"So he won't just blurt shit out?" Snake asked.

"Naw," Eagle said, shaking his head. "And it seems like those two are pretty close."

"We'll keep an eye on him," Wolf said. "At the very least keep him from becoming a tool to get to Cub." The others all nodded at his decision. Eagle had a feeling they'd be seeing more of Tom Harris. He didn't really mind, he liked the kid. The boy had a wicked sense of humor.


	5. Brecon Beacons

Hey guys, so since In Hospital was pretty short I made this one a tad longer and also this little snippit in their lives will be a two-parter. The second part will be a lot funnier and explain a lot more. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider.**

* * *

Alex was gone again. It wouldn't have mattered as much if he would come back fine. However, Tom Harris was very used to this after a year and a half of Alex being a spy.

It was all a routine now; Alex disappears, Tom deals with rumors alone, Alex reappears with injury, Tom and Alex deal with rumors, Alex disappears, etc. It was a strange and stressful routine, with more surprises than a routine should have, but that was just how their lives were now. Tom had gotten used to it. He had also learned to deal with it. But he was no Alex Rider.

On those few occasions the routine was broken in a severe way, like Alex almost dying every now and then, it would throw Tom through a loop.

The current state of their lives was by far the easiest on Tom. He wasn't risking life and limb and except for that one time with Spitter, was safe. Yes, being the support system for the spy was a lot easier and safer than being the spy. At least, until now.

* * *

Tom was walking home from football practice that Friday and he would later think of that moment as the beginning to the longest weekend of his life. It'd been a long day of inquisitive and viscous peers, fed up teachers, and lots of homework. It had been a great stress reliever to kick the ball with as much force as he could muster while imagining it was the head of whoever he was pissed off at for the moment. It was a trick Alex had taught him.

Tom had stopped at a gas station to get an off brand energy drink that also happened to be his favorite. He thought it was one of the coolest because it had little holograms on the can. He'd just turned onto his street and was passing a black car with some seriously tinted windows when the back door opened and he was grabbed roughly from behind.

Acting purely on instinct, his arm swung around and the half full can collided with something hard.

"Sonofa-" Wait. He knew that voice. He was pulled into the car and the door was shut. Tom twisted around to see who had him in a death grip.

"Eagle?" The man had one hand pressed to his eye and the other was circled around Tom's chest. The boy looked around the car. Holy crap. K-Unit.

"What the hell!?" Tom exclaimed, his heart beat refusing to go back to normal at the prospect of being kidnapped. They may be Alex's training unit but he didn't know them all that well.

He was deposited between Eagle and Snake on the backseat and a seat belt was snapped around his waist. Eagle grabbed his drink and threw it out the window as Wolf turned out of the neighborhood.

"Dude! I was drinking that!"

"Shut up," Wolf snapped as he turned onto a main road then proceeded to completely shatter the speed limit.

"What is going on?" Tom asked as they passed the park.

"Quiet," Eagle snapped.

"No!"

"Tom!" He had never heard his name be spoken so forcefully and angrily. Wolf was the scariest man in the world right then. Tom fell silent.

What the hell? Why the fuck did they just _kidnap_ him? Why couldn't they talk? What was going on?

These men were tense and edgy. It seemed like they were expecting an attack. He was in danger, was the thought that came to his mind. This wasn't supposed to happen! This was Alex's thing! He was only the support system!

Out of nowhere they were rear ended and if it hadn't been for the seatbelt Tom was positive he would have flown through the windshield.

"They found us!" Eagle shouted, already drawing his gun and rolling down the window.

"I hadn't noticed!" Wolf shouted back. Fox, who had yet to make a noise, rolled down his window as well. And suddenly bullets were being fired and Wolf was swerving the car every which way as he tried to both lose the people behind them and avoid a wreck.

Tom looked over his shoulder to see a silver car behind them. He saw a gun come out the passenger window and his head was forced down as the back window exploded.

Holy shit! Tom glanced up as Wolf made another wild swerve and instantly recognized where they were. Oh! He had a plan!

"Turn right!" Surprisingly Wolf did so without question. Tom wasn't sure why, probably just desperate.

"Where are we going?" Wolf shouted.

"The derby!"

"Derby?!"

"Trust me!" It was asking for a lot but Wolf hadn't seemed to be going anywhere specific and if he had before he certainly couldn't anymore. "Left!" Tom guided them until they came to an abandoned underground parking garage, and then directed them in and down.

"We're sitting ducks down here!" Fox protested as they were rear ended again.

"We don't have a choice!" Wolf shouted back.

When they got to the fourth level they came upon a familiar sight for Tom. He and his brother always went to this highly illegal demolition derby when the nomad of the family was in town. People were in rickety bleachers on two sides of a closed off area drinking and screaming. The area was closed off by a chain link fence that looked ready to fall at any moment. There were six muscle cars behind the fence, currently smashing the shit out of each other.

"Hit the floor!" Tom ordered. They were heading towards the area anyways but if they were going to time it right Wolf would need the extra gas. Tom recognized the formation the cars were going into, it was a show match, put on for fun rather than money.

"Are you insane?" Eagle shouted, firing his gun at the car behind them.

"Do it!" Wolf floored it and in seconds broke through the chain link fence. They'd been incredibly lucky, Tom noted. The cars had been backing up to six different points preparing to give it one big crash for the show. Wolf burst through the barrier just as the other drivers hit the gas. They made it through the middle and Wolf swerved to avoid a head on collision then braked to avoid the wall.

The car behind them wasn't so lucky and was all but smashed to pieces. The people inside should be okay; the muscle cars hadn't been going that fast to begin with, but their car was never going to run again.

Wolf reversed it and hit the gas again before anyone could react and stop them. He drove backwards for a good thirty yards, before switching gears and spinning the car forward. They made it back to the street in seconds.

"Holy shit," Eagle said. Nobody else really made a sound, trying to catch their breath. Tom's mind was buzzing and he felt on the verge of panic. He had never been shot at before. Sure, he'd been held hostage once by a rather timid man, but never had someone tried to kill him like that.

He didn't even realize he was close to hyperventilating until Snake put a firm hand on the back of his neck and forced him down until his head was between his knees.

"Breath Harris," the man said close to his ear. "You'll be fine."

It was a few minutes before Tom's breathing even resembled normal and he sat back up when Snake released his neck.

"You all right Harris?" he asked. Tom shook his head 'no'. He felt sick and told the soldier as much.

"It's the adrenaline," he said simply.

"What the hell's going on?" he ground out, hands clutching at the seat by his knees. He felt like he was going to throw up any second.

"We'll explain when we get to the bank," Fox told him.

"Bank?" Tom squeaked. "Alex's bank?" Eagle shot him an amused look.

"Yes," he said. "Blunt wants to talk to you."

"Who's Blunt?" Tom asked, not recognizing the name though he probably could have figured it out had he been calmer.

"Cupcake," Eagle said, then gave a small flush of embarrassment at the strange looks he received from his team. Tom just nodded knowingly.

"Oh, okay," he said.

"Cupcake?" Fox asked, sounding fully amused.

"I didn't come up with it," Eagle defended before pointing to Tom. "It's his code." The others just fell silent. K-Unit because there just wasn't anything left to say and Tom because he had no clue what to say and was too focused on not throwing up. What did Alex's boss want with him? Surely the man didn't want to recruit him? God, that'd be a terrible idea.

Tom barely registered the fact that they'd entered another parking garage, this one not abandoned and under what he assumed was the bank. They took an elevator directly into the building's lobby before transferring to another that would take them to the floor they needed to be on. Tom was grateful they didn't go through the front door. He had no interest in seeing the spot that Alex had almost bled to death on. Seeing him in the hospital was hard enough, he didn't need to see the place it happened.

Tom didn't know what he had expected MI6 headquarters to look like, but this wasn't really it. The floor they were on was grey and boring. They passed cubicles that had no name plaques and no personal items. Even he could tell that if they had too, they could be out in like a day, especially if the other parts of the building were like this. Whatever needed to be taken was within reach. Smart, considering what this building housed. He wondered if Alex had a cubicle.

They reached a grey office with a grey man. Good god, even his skin looked grey. Get a little sun, man! He also saw a dark woman in a business suit sucking on what Tom thought was a peppermint (Alex had told him about the woman's love for them), and an extremely fat man. They all looked very grave and he wondered if he should be worried. Of course, the gun fight was more than enough reason to be worried.

"Hello, Mr. Harris," the woman said once the door had been closed. K-Unit was at his back, and Alex's people were across the desk. "I'm Mrs. Jones, this is Mr. Blunt," she pointed to the grey man, "and this is Smithers." She pointed to the fat man who conjured up a small smile.

"Uh, hi," he said awkwardly more than a little confused and a little intimidated.

"Are you aware that Alex is on a mission?" she asked. It seemed like a fairly obvious thing to Tom. Where else would the boy be?

"Yeah," he said. "But I don't know where." She gave him a rather indulgent smile and despite being more than a little out of his depth, he managed to feel annoyed.

"Yes, well, it seems that the mission has taken a turn for the worst," she told him. Tom's heartbeat sped up a little at that. Oh god, dammit Alex!

"Is he okay?" Tom asked.

"We are not fully aware of Mr. Rider's condition at the moment," Blunt said.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked glancing over his shoulder at the soldiers behind him. He wasn't sure why. Just knew them better he figured.

"He was able to send us a message," Jones told him. "Then communication was cut off."

"Okay," Tom said, still not able to understand what was going on. "What does that have to do with me? And why were we shot at?"

"Mr. Rider had to use a non-secure line to transmit the message," Smithers said. "So he used a code." And suddenly it made sense.

"Our code," Tom said.

"Yes," Blunt told him. "You are the only one who can translate it. And as for the shooters, the people Alex was sent to spy on probably figured out you can translate it. They'll want to know exactly what he sent us."

"That, or they wanted to use you as leverage against Alex," Mrs. Jones continued. "Make him talk." Tom let out a small push of air. Holy shit! What had they gotten into? He'd never been the target before. Again the Spitter thing didn't really seem to count. That man barely even knew how to hold a gun. But then, Alex had never sent the code over the airwaves before.

"Once you complete translating the message," Blunt said. "You'll give the entire code to Smithers, who will put it in the databases in case it's ever needed again." Tom wasn't stupid, that also meant they wouldn't have to beef up security around him. Like hell, he wasn't going to have that leverage! That code was the only reason K-Unit had been there to save his life. They'd just have to change the code.

"Fine," he said. "Where's the message?" Blunt handed him a piece of paper, which he read.

_Get this to Cupcake. Sprinkles are baked and ice cream is melted. In bakery near hell. Gold is sprinkles. Bring the rain._

Tom couldn't help but appreciate how weird this message would look to somebody who didn't know the code. But he could also appreciate the severity of the situation. My god, he thought, this is intense. He gulped.

"Well?" Blunt prodded.

"Well, he's in Wales," Tom told them and Blunt's eyebrows rose. Apparently, they hadn't originally sent him there.

"What else?" Mrs. Jones asked.

"It says, 'Get this to boss. Weapons are ready and enemy is leaving. In factory near Brecon Beacons. Virus is the weapon. Send help.'"

"Brecon Beacons?" Wolf asked confused. "Why is he there?" Tom shrugged.

"I dunno, but the codeword for Brecon Beacons is hell," he informed them. That was one of Alex's few contributions to the code.

"Thank you, Mr. Harris," Blunt said and suddenly orders were being given and K-Unit was out the door. Smithers took him gently by the arm and led him to an empty office down the hall. The fat man sat on one side of the desk and Tom sat in a chair on the other. There was only a desk and a laptop in there.

"Alright, Tom," the man said, with a smile. "Let's get started."

"Can I ask you something first?" Tom asked quickly. Alex had told him about the fat man that made his gadgets. The teenage spy rarely gave any names; protection reasons.

"Sure," was the jovial answer.

"Do you make Alex's gadgets?"

"Yes, actually, I do," he said with wide grin at his work being recognized.

"Toyman," Tom said. "We call you Toyman." Smithers nodded and started typing. For the next two hours they recorded the code. Tom was worried about Alex, knowing he'd gotten himself caught.

When they were done, Tom was left to wait in the office and quickly became lost in his thoughts. He'd never been in so deep before when it came to Alex's job. He'd been told and ever since he had he got sucked in deeper and deeper. First with the truth, helping him get inside that lab in Italy, the trips to the hospital, the code, the kidnapping, and now this. He'd known he would become a target for enemies and even with that one time, it hadn't hit home like today had.

Tom was in danger for however long Alex was in danger. And Alex would always be in danger. But Tom had no plans to walk away. Alex _saved_ people. Had _saved_ the world. Tom had never respected someone more than he did his friend. The kid gave everything he had to this world. It just didn't seem right to walk away, no matter the danger.

Alex would always need help, and Tom wanted to help him. Tom would never save the world, he wasn't strong like that, but maybe could help someone else save the world.

He really did hope Alex was okay.

* * *

"No."

"Harris-"

"No."

It was near six hours later and K-Unit was back. Well, Fox was back, he wasn't sure where the others were. He wasn't even certain if Fox had left. The man had come into the office Tom was sequestered in, telling him that Alex was fine and the situation was diffused for the most part.

Tom had called him out on the 'for the most part' piece and then received some not so good news and, what he considered, a terrible solution to the problem they were now faced with.

The people Alex had been sent to stop had gotten away despite the best efforts of the SAS, although the plan had been stopped. Since Brecon Beacons had been the closest military establishment Alex had been brought there for treatment for whatever injury he'd managed to get. It was decided he would stay there to wait out the red alert, as it was a highly secure location and he could do a brush up on his training at the same time.

Unfortunately, it was uncertain if Tom was still in danger and MI6 had decided it best not to take chances. They wanted to send him to Brecon Beacons as well.

"You won't be training," Fox told him. "You'll just be there for protection, although they may put you to work in the kitchens or something. Plus, Cub and K-Unit will also be there."

"No." Fox gave a thoroughly exasperated noise.

"Why not?" he growled. Tom was undaunted. But since he couldn't give a rational reason he settled for something rather lame.

"I'm not going." He knew he was sounding a bit childish, but didn't care in the slightest. He would _not_ go to Brecon Beacons. There was a reason Alex called it hell, and Tom had no interest in finding out why, even if he wouldn't be doing any training. He. Would. Not. Go.

"You _are _going," Fox said forcefully. "We'll force you if we have to."

"Why can't I just go to a safe house?" he asked. "Or somebody can come to my house even. Mum makes real good spaghetti." Fox's mouth twitched a bit but he wouldn't give.

"This is easiest," he said. "You're going. This way no one's displaced from work, and Cub gets some more training hours."

"Well, gee, sorry if the danger to my life is unconvincing anyone," Tom snapped purposefully ignoring the logic behind the argument. He wasn't an agent, wasn't a high risk witness or suspect, and for all they cared he could die now, they had the code. He was thoroughly peeved with the situation he'd been placed in and wouldn't go without a fight. Well, it wasn't much of a fight, more like a spat.

It wasn't bad enough that they made Alex disappear regularly and manipulated him halfway to hell. Now they were doing it to him too! He hated MI6!

"I'm not going to be able to convince you, am I?" Fox asked.

"No."

"Didn't think so," the man replied with a sigh. To Tom's complete horror the man got out of the chair Smithers had long abandoned, pulling something out of his pocket as he came around the desk. Before Tom's run-like-hell instinct could kick in, Fox had grabbed his arm and plunged a needle into his vein.

"What the hell!" Tom shouted trying to pull his arm out of the man's grip. He couldn't even get the guy to loosen his fingers around his wrist. Nearly thirty seconds later he was unconscious.

Before he completely blacked out, he heard, "Sorry kid."

* * *

Tom came to with a monster headache and what felt like a cot beneath him.

"Did he really put up that much of a fight?" he heard. That's Alex's voice, he noted as he struggled to beat back the blackness.

"He's a pretty stubborn kid," he heard Fox say. "Point blank refused to come."

"Even with the threat to his life?" Wolf asked.

"Doesn't surprise me," Alex said.

"Why not?" Wolf asked.

"Doesn't want to be dragged in any further," Alex said. "He's in over his head as it is without being directly involved."

"Doesn't seem in over his head," Snake noted.

"Naw, he hides it pretty well," Alex said. "But I can tell. When you take away the insanity, he's just a normal kid."

"In other words, he's not you," Eagle chirped. Tom took that moment to groan, finally feeling up to opening his eyes, which he did. They were all standing around him in army fatigues, and Alex looked like shit.

"You look like shit," he told his friend, who gave him an annoyed look. The blond boy had a black eye, some random bruises, and some cuts. And that was just his face, though Tom couldn't see any other obvious injury. Were they really going to make him train like that?

"Nice to see you too, Tom," Alex said. "How're feeling?"

"Pissed," he said, pushing himself up, despite the headache. "He drugged me."

"Yeah, they did that to me too when I refused," Alex said. Tom ignored him in favor of giving Fox a glare who just crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows as if daring the boy to yell at him. Tom didn't feel brave enough or well enough to do it at the moment. But revenge was in order. He wondered if Brecon Beacons had paintball guns, or poison. Either would work.

"You up for walking around?" Eagle asked. Tom wasn't sure, so he swung his legs over the side of his cot and stood up. He was pretty steady so he nodded. "Good, the Sergeant wants to see you."

"Oh, joy," Tom said sarcastically. He saw Alex try to suppress a smile.

"C'mon," the other boy said. "I'll walk you down there." Tom nodded and followed his friend out of what he could now tell was a small hut and into the wet air of Wales. Oh joy, Brecon Beacons.

"You okay Alex?" he asked once they were out of earshot of K-Unit. Alex nodded, hands in his pockets, and eyes forward.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," he said. "Could have been a lot worse." They walked in silence for a few more moments until Tom said something else.

"We need to change the code," he said.

"Why?" Alex asked. Tom wondered how much he'd been told.

"I'd like to keep the leverage." Alex nodded, his spy-tuned mind being able to decipher the underlying meaning of those words. Trust Alex to be able to spot the words behind the spoken words instantaneously. Tom usually found it dead annoying as Alex had tendency to call him out on things but now he was just happy he wouldn't have to explain himself. His best friend understood. "Should I come up with it again, or do you want to?"

"You do it," Alex replied. "MI6 isn't as used to as they are me. They won't be able to simply work through it if you come up with it. Just make sure it's completely different." Tom nodded.

"I'll get on that once we get home," he said. He didn't feel like doing anything that complicated at the training camp, at the moment he was too focused on not throwing up. He wondered how often he would be forced to feel this way while in contact with these people. He hoped it wasn't too often; it was already getting on his nerves.

Alex led him up a hill to a grouping of huts that turned out to be the trainers' offices and quarters. He was led through the open door of one more or less in the middle of the dysfunctional circle and saw Alex salute a rather sour looking man. The dark soldier did not seem pleased to see them.

"Cub," he greeted through his teeth after telling the blond boy to stand at ease.

"Sir." Was the respectful response. Tom, who was still in his regular clothes, stood awkwardly at Alex's side and waited to be addressed. The Sergeant seemed perfectly content to glare at him in complete silence. After half a minute, Tom was squirming. He wasn't normally uncomfortable around the SAS, at least he didn't show it, but this guy was just different. He was actually kind of scary. It also didn't help that he was on their turf. If the guy had been glaring at him like that at Alex's house he'd already be planning another paintball escapade.

"I hear you are here for protection," the Sergeant said. Tom didn't speak; it seemed the guy was just telling him what he knew, not asking for confirmation. "You aren't here for training, but you won't be sitting on your ass twiddling your thumbs, clear?"

"Yes, sir," Tom said, grateful it didn't come out as a squeak.

"You'll work in the kitchens and when not needed there you'll do whatever we need you to do. Cub, show him where to report, the Head Chef will tell you your schedule. Dismissed." Tom practically ran out of the building and Alex only paused to give another salute.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," the blond boy said as they walked back down the hill towards the mess hall. Tom didn't have the heart to tell him he was losing it. Although, he did have the heart to tell him something else.

"This is all your fault," Tom said and Alex gave him a strange look.

"Excuse me?"

"I'd kill you if you weren't so good at surviving shit." Alex just laughed at the threat.

"Like you could take me," he said and Tom attempted to smack him upside the head. Alex ducked easily. Tom's mood was not be deterred.

He'd been kidnapped, shot at, used, and dragged to a place he didn't want to be in with people he'd never wanted to meet. K-Unit he could deal with, but Tom knew Alex's stories. He was so out of his depth it was laughable to think he had a handle on the situation.

Tom was willing to be Alex's friend, was willing to listen when the boy needed an ear. Hell, he was willing to say his goodbyes every couple months, however painful it was and never complain about it. What he was not willing to do was become Alex. And unfortunately, he was finding himself being sucked into his friend's spy world more than he liked.

Why couldn't the world understand that he was the support system? He belonged at home damn it! His job was to wait for Alex to come home, not join him in whatever it was the boy did. Alex always joked Tom was crazy and while it was true to an extent, Tom was sane enough to know that he didn't want to die.

"You okay Tom?" Alex asked cutting into his friend's internal struggle. Tom looked at him. Alex had changed so much in the last year and a half. Tom wondered if he too had changed any since knowing the secret. He figured if he hadn't already he was going have to. It was a matter of survival after all.

"Yeah," he answered. "Yeah, I'll be okay."

Alex nodded and they continued the rest of the way in that comfortable silence only two people who were extremely close could share. Tom was positive he'd probably experience something like this in future again. That was just the price of being Alex Rider's best friend.


	6. Brecon Beacons II

Tom Harris was thoroughly ticked. He was also annoyed. One could even argue that he was homicidal. The Head Chef, really a joke title as what the man made was most certainly _not_ food, was a jovial man who ran the kitchens in a precise and measured way. He was army after all. He was nice to Tom and thankfully asked no questions. It wasn't his temporary boss he had a problem with. No, it was everyone else.

No wonder Alex had called this place hell. The grueling training was what made it hell; the attitude was what made it the Ninth Circle of Hell. Tom had never before received so many glares from so many dangerous people. He ignored the trainees. Hell, he ignored the rest of the kitchen staff and the trainers. The Sergeant ignored him so it was easy to return the favor.

Before Alex had left he'd made it a point to give his friend some advice.

"Keep your head down and try to ignore anyone and everyone that you can. Be respectful and for the love of god, please try to act sane."

"I am sane," Tom said, arms crossed and pout fully in place. Alex lifted an eyebrow at him and the two entered a stare down until Alex rolled his eyes, repeated his 'advice' and left for the obstacle course.

Tom had tried to follow Alex's advice; he really did. K-Unit had more or less forced anyone who even looked like they were going to talk to him to shut their mouths and avert their eyes. The trainees knew the SAS men had already been in the field for over a year and thus acted accordingly. Tom had been shocked to hear that Alex/Cub/Tom's potential victim/best friend and his training unit had become almost the stuff of legend.

"Even with all the classified bullshit going around," the rather rotund chef said as he and Tom put pots and pans away after that night's supper. "You hear things."

"Like what?" the boy asked, curiosity piqued.

"People still talk about Cub," the man said. "Although most of it is just speculation. Every now and then you'll hear the Sergeant yell, "If Cub can do it, so can you." It takes the trainees some time before they figure out who Cub is but once they do it spreads like wildfire."

"Does this happen with every batch of trainees?" Tom asked, wondering just how many people knew that Alex existed but had never seen him.

"Yep."

"Couldn't the Sergeant get in a lot trouble for that?" Tom asked. If the answer was 'yes' he planned on an anonymous tip to Blunt. He was that vindictive and pissed. But the Head Chef just shrugged.

"We kind of exist in our own little world," he replied. "People talk. Not in detail or anything, but when someone does something incredible, word gets around. Cub's become a good story. K-Unit's more or less become legend."

"But why?" Tom asked, confused. "What has K-Unit done?"

"What nobody else would do," the Head Chef answered. Tom gave him a fully confused look, so the man went on. Sort of. "Cub."

"So wait, you're saying that K-Unit has all this respect just because of Cub?" That didn't seem right. The man chuckled.

"Oh, no, they'd have that respect with or without that boy. I'm saying that without Cub they'd be a normal unit. Respectable and good at their job. Cub forced them to step it up, just like the Sergeant uses Cub to get the trainees to step it up. They even use some of Cub's missions as lesson plans. Mostly what _not_ to do, but still. Not everyone gets that kind of shout out." Tom was floored. He hadn't thought that anyone knew about Alex; much less put him and his missions in the category of legendary. He didn't fully understand it, but he wasn't one of them.

As a civilian and a kid he knew that the things Alex did were very much not normal and not easy. He hadn't considered the fact that because Alex did a grown up's job, and did it so well, that he'd be recognized for it. However, twisted that way was. Alex did things that these hard and well trained men struggled to do. And he did it as a kid.

"You know, we've heard about you too," the Head Chef said, cutting through Tom's thoughts with a proverbial machete.

"What?" he squeaked. He was too shocked to be embarrassed. The rotund man chuckled again at the look on his face.

"Eagle complained long and loud about the stunt you two pulled," he said. "I don't think he realized he was making himself look a little stupid but it gave everyone else a good laugh."

"What stunt?"

"The Paintball Incident," he said, amused look firmly in place. Tom flushed. Good God, he said it as if that was its _name_.

"We were bored," he muttered. The man let loose a hearty laugh at that.

"Yes well, it was certainly a comical story," he replied. "Especially the way Eagle tells it. Lots of gesturing and all. I have to say, no one really believed that you two boys managed to do all of that until Wolf confirmed it." Tom felt distinctly uneasy. That prank had been to embarrass K-Unit and give Alex a little revenge. He wondered why Eagle told people about it. He had the most reason to be embarrassed considering where'd they shot him.

What else did these people know?

"What exactly have you been told?" he asked. The man caught the uneasiness in the question and smiled warmly.

"Nothing too much," he said. "Like I said, people just talk. But be careful. The soldiers know better than to mess with Cub. He's already proven himself to be a damn good fighter. But you're unknown. They'll be trying to gauge you." That in no way sounded good. He didn't want to gauged. He wanted to be at home playing his X-box and wondering if he could convince Alex to sneak into the new R-rated movie that just came out.

"I don't wanna be gauged!" The horror was quite evident in his tone.

"You don't really have much of a choice," he said. "Don't worry. The worst that could happen is that you're not respected."

"You just said to be careful." Was this guy _trying_ to confuse him?

"Uh, yes, be careful," he replied, with a little throat-clearing cough. Tom narrowed his eyes at the uncomfortable feel about him.

"Of what?"

"The means by which they gauge you." Tom gulped. That sounded downright scary.

* * *

"Harris."

"Wolf."

"How was kitchen duty?" The smirk fighting its way onto the man's face told Tom that he knew _exactly_ what kitchen duty was like. The boy was just outside the door to their hut, leaning against the wall. It was beautiful here. Without all the light pollution he could see every star. It helped him think. Wolf was leaning against the doorframe.

"It was gross," Tom said knowing the man wanted an answer. Wolf gave an amused snort.

"Why did Eagle tell people about the paintball stunt?" he blurted. Wolf gave him a sharp look.

"Who have you been talking to?" he asked back.

"The Head Chef," the boy replied. "Why did he tell people?"

"Because despite how it makes us look, it is a funny story."

"It makes you look stupid," Tom said wondering if they'd made a mistake in doing it. It seemed that these guys thrived on respect.

"True," Wolf agreed. "But it's not like you got away."

"You're confused Wolf," Tom told him and ignored the small glare. "Alex getting caught was part of the plan and if I recall, you didn't catch me."

"Fine, you got away, but you didn't get away with it. We made you clean the car, remember?" Tom smiled. How could he not remember them watching the two friends clean the paint off of the car while Jack and Eagle flirted? Just to be mean, they'd made them clean the paint off the street too. Jack hadn't said one word in protest. Apparently, they'd deserved it no matter how much K-Unit had been fair game for it all along.

"I remember Alex's complete horror at Eagle and Jack." Wolf actually gave a small laugh. It _had_ been a funny face. "What else have you told these people?" Tom asked suddenly, effectively wiping the smile off of Wolf's face.

"That's really about it," he said. "Everyone who passes through here now, more or less knows about Cub, but the only time you were mentioned was when Eagle started talking about Cub's accomplice. They wanted to know who that was. We didn't say your name. Just that you were Cub's friend."

"Does anyone know my name?" he asked, curious. He hadn't heard anyone but K-Unit say his name and that was only when they were alone. Not even the Sergeant had said it and he was starting to wonder if anyone actually knew it. Wolf confirmed his suspicions.

"No, I don't even think the Sergeant does but he hasn't asked either. We've just been calling you the Accomplice."

"I like it," Tom said, a grin on his face. "It sounds badass." Wolf just rolled his eyes and went back inside.

* * *

Tom was sweeping the mess hall the next day after he'd eaten his breakfast. The trainees had long left and there a small group of trainers in the corner that had nothing better to do at the moment but talk and drink coffee.

Tom ignored them as well as he could. They were giving him curious looks and he wondered what they were obviously itching to ask. He kept as straight a face as he could but it wasn't easy. He just wanted to crawl in a hole. He was scared.

This wasn't his thing and everyone seemed to know it from the Sergeant to the cook. He was here because he was being shot at because Alex had to be a superhero. It was stressful and already it was taking its toll on him. Tom wasn't used to high pressure situations like Alex was.

He was around Alex in the other boy's wind down time. Every now then he'd have to do something stressful like saying goodbye or deterring blackmailers, but this was just above and beyond him. He didn't like it. He didn't want to be Alex, no matter how much he respected him. He just wanted to go home.

As Tom made his way towards the trainers in the corner, sweeping as he went, one of them finally spoke.

"Hey, kid!" Tom turned to see a large man gesturing him over. Mentally cursing, he walked over as calm as could be.

"Yeah?"

"We were wondering what you're doing here," he said his voice sounding light and curious. "You're obviously not here to train."

"I have bad taste in friends," Tom deadpanned. They exchanged looks that plainly said they had no idea what he was talking about.

"You talking about Cub?" the man asked. They were giving him searching looks. He gave nothing away.

"Who else would I be talking about?" Tom asked. "Casper the Friendly Ghost?" Low level glares all around. He noted how he was doing exactly the opposite of what Alex had told him to do but he couldn't help it. He slipped into his crazy guise as an instinct. It kept teachers off his back. It kept the kids at Brookland from bothering him about Alex. It kept Alex's unit confused. It worked and more importantly, it was comfortable.

"Don't be a smart ass, boy," one of them growled. He had heard better growls from Alex before. He wasn't scared.

"Then don't ask questions," he replied. He turned to leave but wasn't even a step away when the first trainer's hand shot out and clamped down on his arm, spinning him back around to the now glaring group. Tom decided to call the man Clamper.

"Show some respect," he hissed. Tom looked him dead in the eye. Every survival instinct he had was telling him to run far, far away.

"Yes, _sir_," he said, putting an not-so-respectful emphasis on the 'sir'. It didn't pacify Clamper but he did release his arm.

"We've heard about you," another trainer said. He had dark skin and beady eyes. He looked a lot calmer than the others. Tom called him Zen.

"So I've been told," Tom acknowledged.

"You're not one of us," Zen said. "And you're certainly not Cub." Tom recognized this for what it was. They were trying to remind him that he was much more vulnerable than anyone else here. He knew he was too, but they didn't need to know it. He was now banking on the fact that they knew nothing about him.

"You know what they say about rumors," he said a smirk on his lips.

"No, what?" Zen replied.

"There's a grain of truth but not much else. I'm Cub's friend. I've slipped past K-Unit three times in one night. I out ran Eagle. What makes you think, I can't handle you?" He turned sharply, put his broom in the closet, and walked out, head held high.

* * *

Yup, Alex was pissed. Tom had suspected he would be. He hadn't quite expected the other boy to find out about it that quickly though. Apparently, one of the trainers who had never even spoken had told Eagle, who told everyone else. Honestly, that man was such a gossip.

Upon walking out of the mess hall, Tom had wandered for a while before running into Fox.

"Oh, I've been looking for you," he said with a smile. Tom was instantly suspicious.

"Why?"

"I want you to help me with one of the classes I have to teach." He'd refused to say anything more about it, so Tom was dragged to one of classrooms/large hut where he received a nasty glare from Alex. He was told sit next to the other boy, who was also helping, at the 'teacher's' table. Wolf and Eagle were standing in the back, there to watch. Snake was no were in sight.

Tom avoided his friend's eye knowing he'd probably be yelled at a little later for the stunt with the trainers. He couldn't really blame Alex; he'd practically challenged them to throw their worst at him. Alex's protective streak was rearing its head in the form of anger. It would have been endearing if Tom wasn't so worried.

Fox went and stood at the front of the room, resting a hand on the whiteboard's marker holder.

"All right," he said and instantly the room was even quieter and the focus was even sharper. "You are all here to learn what we can teach you. It's going to be a, uh, unique lesson. You'll probably be the only ones to have this opportunity so pay attention and appreciate it." Tom was fully interested. What was he talking about? "Today you're going to learn the finer points of manipulation of conversations. Tomorrow you'll learn about codes."

Tom slunk down in his chair fully embarrassed. Eagle smirked at his reaction. He was sure Alex was as well but he was scared to look. He was practically under the table by the time Fox was ready to introduce him. And unfortunately, it was as the Accomplice.

"Accomplice?" Fox said, trying to hide a smile and get the boy to stand up. It took a kick from Alex to even get him to answer.

"Yeah?"

"Care to help me out?"

"Not really."

"Get up, Tom," Alex said lowly. He did and saw the trainees looking at him with some doubt. Fox took two stools from the corner and placed them a couple of feet apart from each other in the front just to the left of the table. He sat down on one, facing the other and gestured for Tom to do the same. Tom, more than a little confused, did as he was bid.

Fox took a couple of note cards from his pocket and turned his head to address the group.

"I am now going to more or less attempt to trick information out of Accomplice here. Subtle manipulation can be just as effective as intimidation if done right. If your suspect refuses to be scared of you this is a skill you can fall back on. Mostly this type of thing is left up to the intelligence agencies but it's a good thing to understand and recognize. Learning it now will also you help you recognize if someone is doing it to you."

Tom wasn't quite sure how helpful he would be in this situation. This seemed like the kind of thing that Alex should demonstrate. He was the spy. Unless, they were going for what a civilian would look like doing it. But it still didn't make much sense to Tom.

"Accomplice," Fox started. Tom immediately cut him off. Fox wanted manipulation, he'd get it. Tom Harris style.

"Foxy," he deadpanned. Eagle stifled a snicker.

"How long have you known Cub?"

"Since the sandbox days," Tom replied knowing that giving that information away wasn't dangerous or compromising. Everyone already knew they were friends, what did it matter if they knew roughly how long?

"Where did you meet him?" Tom briefly considered the fact that K-Unit was using this as an opportunity to learn more about Alex because knowing the blond boy, he hadn't told them anything. So what did he know that K-Unit knew?

"School," he said. "Where I meet most of my friends."

"How close are you two?"

"Fairly." They'd seen him at the hospital and knew that he knew the secret. They'd have to be close.

"How close is fairly?"

"I'm sure you know. You've seen me around."

"Yes, we have," Fox said, his tone fairly empty. Tom tried not to squirm. He was absurdly glad his back was to Alex because otherwise he would have been glancing at him every few words and that would ruin the entire effect. "Whose idea was it to shoot us with paintballs?" That was an expected question and Tom gave Fox a weird look.

"Does it matter?" he returned.

"It does to us."

"It was my idea," he said. But it was Alex's plan. Although, he was pretty sure they already knew that.

"How long have you known about Cub?"

"Since the sandbox days," he replied, purposefully ignoring the true question. He'd known about Alex since they'd first met. He'd known about his _job_ for about nine months. Details, Fox. Fox's eyes narrowed slightly as he recognized the mistake.

"How long have you known about his job?" he corrected. Tom glanced at the crowd long enough to see rapt attention.

"I knew before he told me," he lied. Point blank lie. "Point Blanc." Wolf stood up a little straighter. "Such a beautiful mountain."

"How did you figure it out?"

"I knew something was wrong," Tom said almost truthfully. "Cub keeps disappearing. You get suspicious. Eventually I just snuck into his house and overheard him talking to his boss." Point Blank lie. "It was right after Point Blanc." He wondered if he was going too far but figured that if K-Unit wanted to play, he'd play. Oh, and he'd win too.

"And that was the first conclusion you came to?"

"Of course not," he said lightly, waving away the craziness of that suggestion. "It's too crazy."

"But you _knew_?"

"All I knew was that Cub believed he was whatever it is he is," Tom replied. "I didn't _believe_ him until later." He never said MI6 or spy. That would confirm things and if he confirmed it now he couldn't wiggle out of things later. Tom never liked to point blank confirm.

"What made you believe?" Besides the utter sincerity in his eyes? The base jumping into a science lab that blew up minutes later? The gunshot? The poisoning? How about you guys?

"It's classified," Tom replied enjoying himself immensely. This was fun!

"Not here it isn't," Fox said and if he had been under the threat of torture, Tom would have gulped.

"Yes, it is," he said. In all honesty, it wasn't, at least not in the sense they were thinking of. Tom could have explained that he believed Alex simply because it was _Alex_. Or at least he could have tried to explain it. But the word classified meant more than just state secrets. It was also a word they used to say it was a secret between them. Tom's latest crush. Classified. Alex's prank on the Headmaster. Classified. Sneaking out in the dead of night to get back at the latest kid with a grudge against them. Classified. Tom more or less writing Alex's term paper because the boy was trying to deal with his godfather's betrayal. Classified. Tom sneaking into Alex's room to sleep because he didn't want to deal with his parents. Classified. And he'd be damned if he was gonna spill.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Any other time and Tom would have stumbled over such a random question but he knew what they doing and what they were trying to make it look like. It was Tom's job to dance around these questions and never give a real answer without making it seem like he wasn't answering. It was Fox's job to try and trick the answers out of him. But even if the trainees knew it or not, this most certainly was not just for show. It was real.

"No," he replied. "She was a bitch." Chuckles from the crowd. "What about you, Foxy? Or do you swing the other way?" To the man's credit he didn't even react. Not even a flush.

"I have a girl," he replied and Tom immediately knew it wasn't true. He couldn't say why, per se, he just knew that it wasn't true.

"Sure you do," he said in a tone that plainly said he knew Fox was lying.

It went on like that for another ten minutes until Alex and Tom switched places. Alex was much better at it and managed to completely change the subject at times with just a simple nudge. Tom liked listening to him. Alex was a master at this.

Alex's 'interrogation' sounded more like a complicated conversation than a question and answer session. And it was during Alex's conversation that Tom figured out Fox's tell. He'd caught it the first time. It was just a slight change in his face. A subtle twitch of muscles really. Fox's eyes would narrow just ever so slightly. It was hard to see and in the right lighting would be impossible to see. In a torture session it wouldn't be visible either because it could be written off as a reaction to the pain. But Tom saw it. It was like he was making a conscious effort to make eye contact as it was one of the best signs of whether or not someone was being truthful.

Tom felt a perverse pleasure at knowing Fox's tell. Well, what do you know, he was learning.

The trainees quickly caught on to the lesson. Once Fox was done with Alex, he more or less convinced them that no, they hadn't caught all of the boys' tricks and tells, and then proceeded to prove it to them, citing that he had already known everything that came out of Tom's mouth. Or at least, he thought he did. It didn't matter if the entire crowd knew it, one enemy knowing it was enough.

Then Fox brought up things in Alex's conversation that not even Tom had caught and that the only reason he'd known was because he'd been told otherwise from a person who had no vested reason in lying.

Tom could honestly say that Fox hadn't quite caught everything and indeed they brought one more thing to the trainees' attention.

"Also, you should always be aware of what the other person is saying. You can get just as much information from them as they can get from you. For instance, Accomplice, do I have a girlfriend?"

"No, you were lying," Tom said instantly. Fox nodded.

"By throwing in questions for me to answer, Accomplice was able to figure out my 'tell'. This is good in case we ever decide to strike a deal. He'll know when I'm lying. Just like I'll know when he's lying." Tom shifted at the thought that the man knew he'd lied about how he'd become aware of the secret. But he should have expected it. The first couple of questions had all been stuff they'd already known so they knew it was the truth. Fox had known he would lie about Alex, for Alex and he was able to pick up on the change when Tom lied. The man now knew his 'tell' just as Tom knew his. "Body language is important. If you know how to read it, it's just another tool to keep yourself alive and get your job done." Tom thought that it was a very effective way to end the lesson.

* * *

That night there an exercise in the woods on search/detection and attack. Five teams entered in black combat gear and paintball guns. Tom helped hand out the guns and the ammo. He got there before the Sergeant and took the opportunity to use a cartridge he'd found that was only half filled. Eagle didn't appreciate being shot at but everyone else had laughed.

Even Alex, still annoyed at Tom for blatantly ignoring his advice, laughed for a minute. Tom doubted they would ever talk about it as Alex had yet to bring it up. With Alex, the longer he waited the less he was to ever bring up something again, which tended to work well for Tom. Alex really should have known better anyway. It wasn't like Tom was about to change his attitude for a bunch of pissy soldiers.

Alex and K-Unit entered last and were out of sight in two point five seconds. Tom counted.

Five minutes later it was raining and he and the Sergeant were in the jeep, watching the woods for Tom didn't know what. Cheaters?

"Does it count as cheating if you survive?" Tom asked suddenly. He could feel the look the man gave him. Tom was closest to the woods so the scary man was technically behind him.

"Excuse me?"

"You gave them all these rules but if the only way not to get shot is to ignore the rules, is it cheating?" he rephrased.

"The rules of the exercise are there for a reason," he said.

"But there are no rules on the battlefield," Tom said, repeating something Alex had once told him. He'd thought it was a profound statement until he'd heard a guy in a movie say the same thing. Although, it didn't negate the truth. Tom glanced over his shoulder to see the man giving him a weird look.

"What does that have to do with this?"

"You shouldn't give them rules to train them in a situation that in real life has no rules. The bad guys won't give a flying shit about how far in you can go or where you should and shouldn't shoot."

"We have rules because we're the good guys kid," the man said and surprisingly, he didn't sound pissed. "This is a timed exercise so there has to be a rule about where they can or can't go. Makes things move a little faster. We'll just have to hope that they understand that." There was a slight smirk on his face that suggested that he believed they were that smart.

"So, for now, if they ignored the rules it would be cheating?"

"I guess."

"What would happen if they did that?"

"They'd be binned." _Binned_. He knew that word. He also knew what it would have meant for Alex if it had happened to him. A way out.

"Can I tell you something?" Tom asked, avoiding eye contact by focusing on the woods.

"What?" the Sergeant replied snappishly. He probably thought it was going to be something stupid.

"Cub tried to get you to bin him," he said. The man's silence was all that told him the unflappable soldier was flapped. "He pick pocketed you; you didn't do anything. He knew you knew. He wouldn't just stop trying; it goes against who he is. So he had to do something else." Even if it hadn't worked or wouldn't have worked out as he'd thought it would, Alex had been desperate. Even then, he'd wanted a way out.

"Cub was good," he replied. "I wasn't about to bin him for that, no matter how much I wanted to. I thought it was a way to get Wolf to back off."

"Yeah he's a real bastard isn't he?"

"Language kid."

"Sorry, sir." They fell silent for a little while. "Be thankful you didn't bin him."

"Why?" Tom turned from the window to look the man dead in the eye. This was not something that should be left up to interpretation. This man wanted to use his friend as an example. He doubted they knew anything about Alex's more terrible missions and the repercussions that would have followed had he failed. The Chef had been too happy-go-lucky about it. As if they thought it some grand adventure.

Based off of what Alex had told Tom, that wouldn't have been the case if the name of SCORPIA had come into it. It was one of the only names Alex had told Tom without needing to be asked. That, in and of itself, sent red alerts in the boy's head.

"You'd be dead now, if you had binned him," Tom said. The man's face closed completely as he processed that. Tom turned back to the window as he added, more to himself than to the man boring holes into his head with his sharp eyes, "We would all be dead if you had."

Tom wondered what was going through the man's head. He'd give anything to know.

* * *

Fox's next 'lesson' was far worse than the one before it. Tom had known it would be the second the word 'code' came out of Fox's mouth. He knew then what would be asked of him and he didn't like it. His code; they were going to bring in his code. Great.

Once Fox was done explaining that personal codes were far easier to memorize because the person knew _why_ a certain word meant something, he asked Tom and Eagle to join him up front. Tom's hands were shoved into the pockets of the army fatigues they'd given him, and he was staring at the suddenly interesting back wall.

"Accomplice, tell us how you came up with your code," Fox said. Like hell. Eagle already knew but he wasn't about to repeat it to these complete and total strangers.

"I was hungry," he said. He got strange looks. Big deal.

"And what does your code mostly consist of?"

"Food." The question was a bit redundant. What else would he be thinking of if he was hungry? The moon? Fox then explained that themes in codes made it easier to learn but not necessarily easier to crack.

"Accomplice, give us a code word we haven't been made aware of," Fox ordered. Copies of Tom's coded message during the Spitter thing and the message Alex had sent had been passed around along with their translations.

"Bacon," Tom said. He saw Alex hide a smirk.

"Does anyone have a guess as to what that means?" Fox asked. A couple of guys took a wild guess. The most amusing had been a simple, "He's hungry!" No one knew who'd said it which was probably a good thing.

When Fox gestured for Tom to give the real answer he said a simple, "Dog."

"Why?" asked one guy near the front.

"Because dogs like bacon," Tom said. "Haven't you ever seen those Bacon Bits commercials? I like dogs." The afterthought made him look even weirder but he hardly cared. It went on for another five minutes with Tom's words getting all the more suggestive.

When Fox learned that 'whipped cream' was not in fact a sexual reference but a threat of castration, they finally got the hint and let him sit down in the back. He'd said it with such a straight face that the only person who still believed that Tom wasn't naturally violent was Alex. Tom preferred it that way.

Eagle took over from there to explain when it was appropriate to use a code and when was not. Tom thought it was more of a 'well, duh' type of explanation. The best part of the day, which happened to be Sunday, was that afternoon. All six of them were on their back to the cabin for a while before dinner when Zen stopped them.

"MI6 called to say that the red alert's over," he told the boys. "A car will be here in an hour to take you home." Tom was so excited that he hugged the man before running the rest of the way to the hut shouting, "I'm going home!" He even jumped into a large puddle, not yet gone from the rain the night before, sending water everywhere and soaking himself.

"He's a strange one," the trainer said once Tom was out of sight. Alex gave him a smile trying to suppress his laughter at Tom's antics and the soldiers' faces.

"He's always been that way."

"He's awfully happy," the man noted. Alex nodded.

"He doesn't really like the people here," the blond boy said. "Also he probably really misses Chuck."

"Chuck?" Eagle said. "Who the hell is Chuck?"

"His X-box." If Alex had turned around to look at Wolf standing behind him, he would have seen the man shake his head in exasperation, eyes skyward as if asking, _Why me?_ If Alex could have read minds, he would have known they were all thinking the same thing. _Could this kid __**get **__any stranger?_

But Alex didn't look behind him and he couldn't read minds. It wasn't as if he'd have understood why they were reacting like that anyway. It was all normal to him.

* * *

Well, let me know! :)


	7. The Fury that is Jack

Hope you guys enjoy this one. I thought that now would be a good time to develope Jack a little more, so, here it is! Enjoy and review.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider.**

Tom liked Jack. He really did; he thought she was a good, brave person. He didn't have crush on her or anything, well, anymore. He did however, respect her greatly. Jack was the perfect guardian for his best friend. She was patient, just protective enough, and never made him feel guilty. Jack was the other half of Alex's support system.

However, Jack's world didn't fully revolve around her superspy ward. She liked to have fun so she went to clubs, met guys, and had relationships. She called it "satisfying her needs" which had effectively disgusted Alex and set Tom's imagination on fire.

Every now and then, Jack would go out on a date and Tom would come over and keep Alex company if he wasn't on a mission. They generally avoided his house even though things had quieted down after his father had moved out. Tom's relationship was somewhat strained with his mother and avoiding her was Tom's solution. Not the best in the world but it worked for him. That, and Alex had a really awesome 52 inch TV.

So, Tom would bring his X-box, Chuck, with him and the two would play video games all night. It was just what they did, and it was fun.

This particular Saturday night however, brought several surprises. One in the form of four not-so-welcome soldiers.

* * *

"Will you get that?" Alex asked, as he continued to chase a Little Sister in Bioshock. It was only a one player game and it was currently Alex's turn. Jack was already gone, out with what looked like a long-termer, and it was approaching nine at night. He wondered who it could be as he got up off the couch and headed to the front door.

When he opened it, he attempted to slam it shut again only to have it stopped with a boot. A hand grabbed the door and wrenched it back open to reveal none other than K-Unit.

"Hello Tom," Fox said. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Back at you," Tom snapped still not quite over the whole he-drugged-me-and-dragged-me-to-Brecon-Beacons thing. It had only happened two weeks ago and Tom knew for a fact that he could hold a grudge for years. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Where's Cub?" Wolf asked as the four brushed past him into the house. Tom shut the door to the now empty stoop and followed them to the living room. Really, why ask if they weren't going to let him answer?

He got there just in time to hear Alex ask, "What are you doing here?"

"MI6 sent us over," Eagle said making himself comfortable on the couch and stealing the controller from Alex's hands. He unpaused the game and started playing ignoring the annoyed looks from Alex and Tom and the glares from his Unit.

"Why?" Alex asked. Tom stood just inside the door hoping they wouldn't make him leave. Alex would probably tell him anyways but it was such a hassle to wait. Snake shrugged.

"Not sure," he said. "Something about a potential threat."

"They didn't tell you anything?" Tom asked, not able to contain himself. Snake shook his head.

"Not a thing," he said. "Big surprise."

"How long will you be here?" Alex asked. Again Snake shrugged.

"Not sure," he said. "Until the red alert is over." Tom crossed his arms. Good God, how many red alerts would they have to go through in a month? Didn't one fill the quota?

"Great," Alex said with an eye roll. "So I assume you'll have to stay here overnight?"

"Looks like it," Wolf replied, looking like he fully wished that wasn't the case. "Where's your guardian?"

"On a date," Alex replied and Tom noticed Eagle give a slight scowl that had nothing to do with the game as he all he was doing was walking around. Huh, interesting. Tom knew Jack and Eagle had a tendency to flirt with one another but he hadn't thought anything of it and he knew Alex would miss it entirely. He wondered exactly what he would do with this new information.

Wolf suddenly turned towards Tom. "Are you spending the night?" he asked and Tom nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "Mum went to visit Aunt Cheryl up in Glasgow. She won't be back until Monday." His mom was almost always out of town which Tom liked to a certain extent. He missed her sure but he could do so much more when she wasn't at home. Wolf nodded.

"Alright, well, we're going to go check the neighborhood out, see if we see anything," Wolf said. "Eagle, stay here."

"Gotcha," the soldier replied distractedly as the other three left to go see what they could see. Tom wondered if that meant they were going to go look in people's windows. He wouldn't put it past them. Tom returned to the couch on the other side of Eagle and watched his game progression, which was admittedly good.

"You've played this before," he noted as Eagle took down a Big Daddy much faster than Tom ever had.

"Yep," Eagle said. "It's one of my favorites." Eagle fell silent after that, as did Alex, but Tom felt the need to talk so he more or less prattled on about nothing. An hour later and Eagle was getting visibly annoyed as Tom regaled him with the happenings of Brookland. He'd just gotten to the part where the kid who had the locker next to him got busted for having a joint and attempted to hide it by slipping it through the vents of Tom's locker only to be caught on camera when Eagle paused the game and looked him dead in the eye.

"Do you ever stop talking?" he asked. Tom was a little put out by that. He thought it a good story. He was even more put out when Alex started laughing.

"Not really," the blond boy said. "Our coach calls him Motor mouth." Eagle smirked and Tom pouted. He was about to reply when they heard the front door open and then slam shut. There was a frustrated scream from the hallway that could only have been from Jack.

"What's she doing home?" Alex asked, confused. "It's only ten."

"She sounds pissed," Tom said brightly. Despite the fact that Tom worked overtime to stop the rumors about Alex he did in fact enjoy watching drama. Especially when it involved Jack. The fiery redhead was a screamer and the things that came out of her mouth tended to be hilarious. Jack stormed into the room and Tom was amused to instantly see Eagle's eyes cloud over.

She was wearing a tube top and decidedly tight jeans. It was near impossible to get Jack to wear anything other than her black high top Nikes but in the end it only made her look hotter. Her make-up was dark and her hair was in a messy ponytail. She was supposed to be at a club with the potential long-termer (Tom still didn't know his name) but apparently that wasn't meant to be.

Jack turned and seeing Eagle the scowl momentarily left her face. Huh, interesting.

"Eagle?" she asked with a small smile. "What are you doing here?" Eagle snapped out of it and was opening his mouth to speak when the door opened again and a shout rang through the house.

"Jack!" some guy Tom had never heard before shouted from the front entrance.

"What?" Jack shouted back through the doorway. Tom heard the man come towards the living room and enter. He either didn't see the three people on the couch or ignored them.

"Can we please talk about this?" he asked. Jack's scowl came back full force. Sensing a fight Tom immediately grabbed the bowl of popcorn off the coffee table and settled back.

"No, Jay," she snapped. "We can't."

"Why not?" he asked. Jack gave him a glare that would have made even Wolf cower.

"Why?" she said mockingly. "Why, you ask? I'll tell you why. Because there is no talking about this. You're a perverted jerk and that'll never change."

"I'll never change?" this Jay person asked just as mockingly as she had. "What about you, Princess? You know, you aren't perfect either."

"I'm aware of that," Jack almost shouted. "But at least I don't try to bang every hot girl that goes past, unlike you!" Tom had a vague of idea of what had happened. Jack had landed herself another horny, meathead. Tom wondered if Eagle was a meathead. He didn't even want to contemplate the soldier's horniness level. That was too much even for him.

"C'mon Jack," Jay said clearly exasperated. "I didn't do anything."

"Hah! Don't make me laugh," she replied coldly. Tom leaned further back into the couch to look at Alex behind Eagle's back. The blond boy gave him a raised eyebrow look and darted his eyes to Eagle. Tom nodded. Good, they were on the same page. Well, sort of. Alex gave him a look that plainly said, "I don't want Jack to date Eagle," to which Tom replied with a look that said, "She's a grown woman, you get no say." The two of them were avid speakers in the language of silence. They had to be to keep all their lies straight. Tom turned back in time to see Jack yell, "I can't believe you cheated on me! And with that hooker!"

Tom almost choked on his popcorn. A wandering eye was one thing but this guy had _cheated_ on her. He was lucky to be alive. Tom looked over at Alex, who was barely restraining himself if the narrowed eyes were any hint as to what the boy was feeling. Alex and Jack were very close and it was no secret that Jack was his honorary sister. It was also no secret that Alex was fiercely protective of Jack as she was his only family left. So with the title of honorary brother came all the responsibilities including killing the man who broke her heart.

Tom, as the brother's best friend, and close to said sister himself was obligated to help. Eagle, the poor soul, was just along for the ride.

Clearly, Jay hadn't quite expected her to scream that if his deer-caught-in-headlights look was anything to go by. "What are you talking about?" he gasped out. Tom shook his head; this guy needed to learn how to lie.

"Don't think I don't know," she said. "I got the proof tonight you lying ass. I saw you two together in the corner!"

"You didn't see shit!" the man responded going defensive. That was when all hell broke loose and the two started screaming at each other. Tom couldn't even tell what they screaming as they were doing it at the same time, trying to outdo the other.

The man made a huge mistake however. He brought his hand back as if to slap her and suddenly found two fifteen year old boys tackling him, before he could even start to bring his arm around. Alex punched him in the mouth and Tom ended up hitting him on the head with the popcorn bowl.

That was also the moment that the rest of K-Unit decided to make an appearance and with Eagle they dragged the two boys up off of the floor. It took both Eagle and Wolf to restrain Alex who looked madder than a hippogriff. Tom knew there was no way to actually prove that as hippogriffs weren't real but he liked the saying.

Snake ended up restraining Tom, who stopped struggling, while Fox asked Jack what the hell was going on. Tom saw him quickly put his gun away.

"We were fighting," Jack said. "He cheated on me and we started screaming at each other. It looked like he was going to hit me and the boys jumped on him. Alex! Calm down!" The four soldiers, who adhered to a high ethical code that included not hitting women and children unless they were trying to kill you with grenades, glared at the man sprawled on the floor. Jack moved towards Alex, breaking through Wolf and Eagle and giving him a hug.

Jay started getting up off the floor and mumbled something as he moved. Tom didn't hear it but Jack did.

"Get out!" she screamed and landed a kick to his gut that sent him back to the floor. The guy quickly got up and scrambled out. He didn't even bother to shut the door behind him as he left and they heard the squeal of his tires as he peeled out of the driveway. Tom didn't really blame him; a glaring K-Unit was scary whether you knew who they were or not.

Jack gave Alex another hug and gave him a quick kiss on the temple, running her hand through his hair before flopping down on the couch.

"What did he say?" Tom asked, moving to pick up the broken popcorn bowl which forced Snake to move his hand from his shoulder.

"Nothing a lady should repeat," Jack said, arms folded.

"Jack, we learned how to cuss from you," Tom pointed out as he put the bowl on the table. Alex was still glaring at the door. Jack rolled her eyes.

"No you did not," she said. "Alex, go shut the door before someone wanders in." The blond boy did as he was told and Eagle sat down next to her.

"You okay Jack?" he asked.

"I'll be fine," she replied, apparently not even wondering why K-Unit was there. She let out a sigh and put her face in her hand, elbow resting on her knee.

"Nice temper you got there," Eagle quipped. He was obviously trying to get her to smile, which she did. Alex came back and looked on the scene with a look that said he was trying not to say something rude.

"I _am_ a redhead," she said. "We like to scream." Jack let out another sigh.

"We should have whip creamed him," Tom said suddenly and Fox, who had been taking a drink from Tom's half empty can of soda, choked.

"Tom, it isn't polite to castrate people," Jack said in a bored tone that implied that she'd said this many times. K-Unit looked at her sharply.

"You know the code?" Wolf asked. Jack looked at him like he was crazy.

"Of course I know the code," she said. "I figured it out months ago. It's not hard." They all looked at Tom and Alex as if for confirmation that, yes, she had actually figured it out, although Tom still couldn't figure out _how_. Both boys nodded. Jack abruptly stood up.

"Well, I'm going to go give away everything that man has given me to the Salvation Army," she said.

"Even the diamonds?" Alex asked, sounding unsure about the fact that she would just give something like that away. Jack gave a small laugh as she started up the stairs.

"Oh, honey, you _never_ give away the diamonds," she said. K-Unit was left alone with the boys and all the government employees began talking while Tom just stared at Eagle. It really wasn't his place to suggest it but if he didn't, nobody would. Alex was certainly aware of the situation but was inclined to never help the two get together. Tom on the other hand, would not only play matchmaker but would enjoy the show as it was sure bring a little chaos with it.

When Eagle finally registered that Tom was staring at him he gave the boy a weird look before asking, "What?"

"You should ask her out," Tom said and Alex immediately punched him on his arm. Hard. "Ow!" Tom shouted as he grabbed his sore arm. "What was that for?" Alex just shook his head and gave him a warning look.

"Why should I ask Jack out?" Eagle asked, puncturing the boys' second silent argument for the night. Tom turned back towards him while simultaneously stepping away from his irate best friend.

"Because you like her and she likes you," he replied. Tom could honestly say that he didn't understand why Eagle looked so shocked. His Unit just watched it all, highly amused. "Although I would consider your decision carefully."

"Why?" Eagle asked looking like he really didn't want to know that answer.

"Because if you make the wrong decision," Alex said, finally breaking into the conversation. "And the fury that is Jack doesn't whip cream you, we will." The two boys crossed their arms at the same time and while it would have looked incredibly stupid on any other pair of teenagers, it didn't on them.

K-Unit tried their very best not laugh while Eagle gave an audible gulp, a scared look coming to his face. Tom didn't blame him, they were scary. When the soldier just sort of sat there, Tom got bored and unfolded his arms, clapping his hands once.

"Well, while you make up your mind, we're gonna play a game on Chuck," he said brightly. Turning towards Wolf, Snake, and Fox, he continued. "Gentlemen I don't think you've been properly introduced to Chuck." He ignored the strange looks on K-Unit's faces as he introduced them to the game console covered in stickers sitting on the coffee table. Alex just looked bored. It was all normal for him, after all.

* * *


	8. His Most Dangerous Mission

Tom Harris had a reputation for being a tad…unique. He normally ignored the rumors about his sanity as easily as he manipulated Alex Rider into shooting paintballs at K-Unit. Unfortunately for Alex, Tom was one of those hands on kind of people in everything about his life. From football, to school, to hostage situations. Tom was an energetic and talkative person. It was this that let him be Alex's greatest friend, for really it was only him who could keep up with the spy.

But it worked the other way as well. Alex was the only one who could figure Tom out. And thus, he was the only one who wasn't surprised by anything the other boy did. When your whole life was one big surprise it all just became routine.

Tom had the ability to create strange situations out of normal circumstances. If Alex wasn't so used to the strange ways of the world he would have suggested Tom go into therapy. But Alex did know and thus, the things Tom put him in were precious memories. But even Tom had tendency to go bit overboard with his plans and adventures. And once Alex heard the full story from Tom's latest victims he was inclined to agree that yes, Tom was insane. Although he was thinking along the lines of, "I can't believe he actually did that! Is he insane?", not the he-needs-some-serious-therapy thought process. Apparently, it really was all about perspective.

* * *

Eagle pulled up in front of a cheap family restaurant, the kind that had a playground and arcade, and sighed in confusion. He recognized three of the cars parked right in front of the building. They belonged to Wolf, Snake, and Fox. Did they get the message too?

He had received a strange postcard with an SAS symbol on it with a date, time, and address. He had been surprised to find that they made postcards like that and conflicted about going to said meeting. It was strange and potentially dangerous but after looking up the address he felt the need to go. There were kids crawling all over this place; what if something bad happened? He didn't like the fact that he wouldn't be there to help. So he went.

When the soldier made it inside he went towards the dining area of the loud, large warehouse-like building. He spotted the other three with incredible ease as they in no way looked liked they belonged there. They were sitting in a booth and Eagle slipped into the empty seat by Fox.

"Please tell me one of you didn't set this up," he said, flipping open a menu and wondering if he would regret eating their pizza.

"Of course not," Wolf snapped. "Did you?"

"No," Eagle replied closing the menu and deciding the food in this place would probably poison him and best not to test his luck.

"Then who did?" Snake asked.

"And why here?" Fox chimed in. There was really no need to ask _why_ they'd all shown up. To each other it was obvious. Their motives were either a sense that something bad would happen, the postcard being a warning, and they needed to be there to help or they were just insanely curious. It was mostly the former though.

They were still discussing it five minutes later when a worker for the child-magnet walked by, giving them a weird look. Eagle shifted in his seat.

"We look really creepy sitting here with no kids," he said.

"How does she know we don't have kids out on the floor?" Wolf countered and pointing to the wide open space that had an insanely built playground and a small arcade. There were screaming and laughing children running around all over the place.

"She doesn't but still," Eagle said, feeling like a total creep. "It looks a little sketchy."

"Then stop squirming," Snake said.

"I'm not squirming," Eagle protested.

"I agree with Eagle," came a sudden new voice as the person the voice belonged to popped his head up over the other side of the bright purple half wall the booth was attached to and that separated the eating area from the play area. All four men jumped in surprise thoroughly not expecting that. The person smirked, folded their arms, and rested them on the top of the wall. "You do look creepy."

"Harris, what the hell are you trying to pull?!" Wolf spouted angrily. Cub's strange friend, Tom Harris, a.k.a Accomplice, was pinned with four very distinct and angry glares. He didn't even bat an eye.

"Calling a meeting," he said then moved to walk around the wall. He grabbed a chair from one of the other tables and sat it at the head of theirs before promptly plopping down. Eagle was just grateful the little brat hadn't tried to fit in the booth. Not only would he not fit but it would extremely awkward.

"You sent those postcards," Fox stated and Harris nodded with a bright smile on his face.

"You are correct my dear Sherlock," he replied in a snobbish tone.

"Why?" Wolf growled.

"Would you believe me if I said I missed you?" the boy asked with an innocent look. He received four very hard looks in response. Giving a frustrated sigh he dropped the innocent look, settling for his normal I'm-slightly-insane-but-I-know-more-than-you look. At least that's what Eagle called it. "Alright fine, I'm here to tell you that you are." At that he paused and gave them an expectant look as if he thought they could finish the sentence.

"We are what?" Eagle asked, taking the bait. Tom looked disappointed.

"You are invited," he said flatly. "Haven't any of you ever read A Clockwork Orange?" They all shook their heads.

"You poor, uncultured meatheads," he said sadly, then clapped his hands and smiled before they could respond to that insult in anyway. "But seriously, you're invited."

"To what?" Wolf asked, looking like he thoroughly did not want to know that answer.

"Cub's birthday is this Saturday," he said. Praying to any deity that would listen, Eagle hoped the kid wasn't saying what he thought he was saying.

"What does that have to do with us?" Snake asked reluctantly.

"Well, usually it's just me, him, and Jack," Harris explained. "Sometimes his Uncle would be there but nobody really expected it. Alex doesn't really like birthday parties."

"Your point?" Wolf growled, cutting off the potential rambling.

"You'll be going this year," he said, then turned to steal a coke off the tray of a passing waitress. The poor thing didn't even notice.

"Why?" Eagle asked. Tom pinned him with a blank stare that rivaled that of the MI6 operatives.

"Because two weeks ago we gave you a decision to make about Jack," he replied. "Did you make it?" Eagle shifted in his seat.

"That's none of your business," he snapped.

"Oh, yes, it is," Tom replied before taking a long drink of his proffered drink. "Did you make your decision? No? Well, here's your second chance. Jack thinks your hunky you know." Eagle felt his cheeks burn as his Unit attempted to not laugh but couldn't quite stop some of the chuckles.

"And how do you know this?" Fox asked, smiling widely at Eagle's blush.

"Asked her," Tom said simply. "That's what she told me."

"So what does Eagle's ultimatum have to do with the rest of us?" Snake asked, putting the conversation back on track.

"Well, I thought it obvious," the boy said with a small burp. K-Unit in no way liked that statement. What was obvious for Tom probably wouldn't be something they wanted to hear. They really didn't want to hear any of the stuff that came out of the kid's mouth. He was weird and attached to Cub, another kid they weren't sure they wanted around even though they did want him alive. Cub they could handle and trust to some extent but his oddball friend was a completely different matter. Soldiers were _still_ talking about the lesson he'd helped Fox with at Brecon Beacons; not to mention making Eagle do a weird little jig as he avoided the paintballs Tom fired at him while they waited for the exercise to start.

"What's obvious?" Snake asked hesitantly.

"You'll be friends." The blunt statement was met with met with hearty laughs. The kid really was nuts.

"Kid, we aren't friends with Cub," Eagle said, smiling. Tom was unmoved. In fact his face was rather stony.

"I didn't say you were," he replied. "I said you will be friends." That sobered them instantly. Was this little weirdo actually ordering them to be friends with Cub?! What the hell!?

"Excuse me," Snake said ever the polite one. "But what makes you think we'll be friends with Cub?" Tom shrugged.

"You've got a lot in common, you all trust each other in the field and thus with your lives, and you really don't have a choice," he said with a little laugh. Wolf arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, really?" he said. "Explain."

"Well, the way I see it you guys aren't going to be rid of him anytime soon," Tom said. "And while I'm great and all," Wolf rolled his eyes at the teenage arrogance, "Al, really does need some more friends." They all gave him some strange looks which he countered with a look of bright expectancy.

"Can't he make friends his own age?" Fox asked, a slight sneer to his voice.

"Not with his job," Tom replied.

"What about you?" Wolf inquired pointing to the mentioned boy. "You're his friend."

"Yes, but I know the secret," Tom said. "And he can't tell just anybody."

"So why'd he tell you?" Snake asked thoroughly curious. Tom actually turned serious.

"Because at that point Alex was desperate," Tom said. "He's a bit of a loner by nature but everybody needs friends. He needed someone to talk to so he told me. He knew I would believe him. I'd somewhat figured it out to begin with. I recognized the look in his eyes. The one you get from battle. I've got a Vietnam War vet living next door. They have the same feel about them. Besides, you've met me, how many people would honestly believe anything that comes out of my mouth?"

Eagle had to hand it to Cub; he sure could pick his friends. Not only was this boy incredibly loyal, he was smart and seemed to be able to handle being the support system easily. He knew it wasn't an easy thing to let a person you care about repeatedly leave to what could be their deaths and never complain. And there was no doubt in Eagle's mind that Tom had never complained about his friend never being around or always being banged up. He just wasn't that kind of guy.

The SAS was used to relationships like these but mostly just in the Unit. Being around each other that much and going through so much together would either tear them all apart or bring them closer together as brothers. That's what Cub and Harris were.

But Harris was right; not only had Cub found a seriously awesome friend he'd found the one person not even SCORPIA would believe if he said the other boy was a spy. The kid was entirely too random and too manipulative for stuff like that to be credible. Although, Cub could probably easily shift through the bullshit by now.

"That still doesn't really explain why you'd want us to be friends with him," Eagle said, his voice a little more gentle than usual.

"There's only so much I can help him with," Tom replied. "A lot of Alex's problems are over my head. But you'd know about them, you'll have had similar ones." Eagle was a little doubtful that the problems in his life were even vaguely similar to the ones a teenaged spy had. The looks on his Unit's faces showed they shared this sentiment. Tom sighed recognizing what was going through their heads. "I mean with things like war and terrorists. Jack can handle the teenage stuff." Oh, yeah, that made a lot more sense. Shaking his head and rolling his eyes skyward Tom took another drink.

"Did you steal that off my tray?" a new voice suddenly said. They all turned to see the waitress standing a few feet away, hands on her hips, and looking really pissed.

"No," Tom replied. He pointed to Eagle. "He did. You might want to make them leave; they don't even have any kids." The girl gave them a mixed look of disgust and anger.

"What about you?" the girl asked. Eagle saw the infuriating boy put on his best innocent look adding a little fear in his eyes for good measure.

"I was just walking home," he said, and he pointed back to Eagle. "Then he dragged me inside of the car." K-Unit, completely shocked that the kid would go so far, froze and prayed this place didn't have any cameras for later identification. Wolf, being of a similar skin tone to Tom, gave the lie.

"Don't let him fool you," he told the wide eyed girl. "He's my little brother."

"We look nothing alike," Tom replied, ruining that completely. The girl suddenly dashed off, presumably to find help. Tom downed the rest of his stolen drink in one gulp, got up, and ran. A full five seconds later, a still shocked Unit jumped up and left quickly, heads down. They each got in their own cars and pulled quickly out of the lot. As Eagle turned out he saw the girl and a security officer fly out of the entrance looking around wildly for any sign of them. Thankfully, they had four different retreating taillights to choose from and probably didn't think they'd all arrived separately.

"Turn left at the light." Eagle gave his second jump of surprise that night and had to right his car from the swerve it had taken as he jolted. Tom poked up from the backseat and put his head on the shoulder of Eagle's seat. His face was creepily close to the man's shoulder.

"Tom!" he shouted angrily. "Are you trying to die?!"

"What are you talking about?" Tom asked, sounding thoroughly curious. "Left."

"Why?" the soldier snapped.

"I need a ride home," he said. "Why do you think I got in?" Eagle made the damn left.

"I can't believe you did that," he said, anger fully evident. "Do have any idea how bad this could get?"

"Oh please, Eagle," the kid replied in a know-it-all tone. "All they have to do is check the tapes on their cameras and they'll find that _I_ approached _you_, and that I got into your car willingly and before you even left the building. They'll know it's a prank. Right." Eagle turned a little more sharply than necessary, throwing Tom away from him.

"And what if they investigate?" Eagle asked, annoyed. The kid resumed his earlier position before answering.

"There isn't anything to investigate," he said. "If they do, I'll set the record straight. I know the head of the kidnapping unit on the London Police force."

"How the hell do you know him?" Eagle asked, looking at the kid through the reflection on the windshield.

"This isn't the first time I've said that," he said. Eagle prayed for patience.

"Why would you say something like that?" he asked, thinking that there might be something seriously wrong with the kid. Normal, happy children didn't pull that kind of shit. Tom just shrugged.

"Don't know. But this is the first time I haven't lied."

"How was that not a lie?" Eagle practically shouted.

"Did you or did you not kidnap me right before Fox drugged me and took me to Brecon Beacons?" Tom snapped. "You have no children. The only thing I lied about was the soda, and that'll hardly get you kicked out of the SAS." Eagle, who fully recognized that the kid actually had a point, focused on something else.

"How do you know I don't have children?" he asked.

"I've read your file," Tom deadpanned.

"WHAT!?! How the hell did you get your hands on my file?"

"Left," Tom replied. "The Sergeant needs better locks on his filing cabinets."

"Tom!" Eagle exclaimed. Never before had the kid thrown him through so many loops in so short a time. "You do realize that's a federal offense?"

"Only if you tell," he replied. "I didn't take or copy anything except your addresses. How do you think I got the postcards to you?" The flustered soldier had honestly forgotten all about the postcards.

"What makes you think I won't turn your punk arse in?" he snapped.

"Because I know where you live," Tom replied.

"Is that a threat?" Eagle deadpanned.

"No," Tom replied. "It's a promise. Right." They rode the rest of the way in silence as Eagle didn't have a response to that. The only words spoken were the occasional right, left as Tom directed him to his house. When Eagle finally pulled up to the curb he felt calm enough to continue.

"You do realize that I now know where you live too?" he asked, twisting around to look at the kid over his shoulder. The boy had finally sat back and was staring out of the widow, looking like he had no intention of moving. He looked back at Eagle.

"Keeps it even," he replied.

"Why my car?" Eagle asked wondering if there was anything to his suspicion that Tom hadn't randomly picked a car. After everything that had happened that night, it wasn't inconceivable to think the boy knew whose car was whose.

"Because if all goes well, I'll be seeing you the most," he replied. "This will become a familiar route as I fully intend to utilize a person willing to give rides." Eagle couldn't help but feel amused. This kid was just so strange and confusing.

"I haven't even had a date with her," Eagle said, with a small, tired smile. It didn't take a genius to know that Tom took that as an answer to the decision they'd given him not two weeks ago. The boy gave a bright smile back.

"Sometimes you can just tell," he said. "See you Saturday at three. Don't bother with presents, you won't get it right and Alex doesn't care for them." With that he got out of the car and walked up the front drive. Eagle had been there once before but it was awhile back and he had been in the back of the police van listening to the radios as they gave him a quick briefing about the hostage situation. Never in a million years had he imagined that he'd see this kid again at any point. Especially like this. Eagle was acutely aware of what the boy was trying to set up. A guy for Jack and an older brotherly figure for Cub. It was sweet in a twisted kind of way. Eagle waited until the boy shut the door behind him before driving off.

It wasn't like he cared or anything but it would do nothing for their potential case if the kid really did disappear.

* * *

That Saturday found Alex, Tom and Jack watching some stupid reality TV show, laughing really hard at the antics of the attention seeking people. It was a show Jack loved called Big Brother, filmed over in America. It was technically a game show as they battled it out with wits and cunning to win some money. Alex couldn't remember how much.

He entertained the idea that he and Tom should sign up. Between the two of them they could win easily. Both were manipulating people with a lot more skill than the people on this show. It would be a breeze.

"Alex, get that," Jack said when the doorbell rang. He wondered who it was. They didn't normally have visitors and Tom was already there. He fought down a groan when he saw K-Unit on his front stoop. That wouldn't be polite.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, instantly stiffing with the possibility of _another_ red alert or worse, a mission.

"Hey Cub," Eagle said. "Happy Birthday." Alex gaped at them for a full ten seconds before his brain caught up with reality. He pieced it together instantly. There was only one person with the means and the motive.

"Tom!" he shouted back towards the living room.

"Yeah," came the somewhat hesitate reply.

"What did you do?" He saw K-Unit exchange amused looks.

"Nothing!" was the indignant reply.

"What's going on?" Jack asked as she stepped into the hallway. She caught sight of them and smiled brightly. "Oh! Hi! Alex, don't be rude." Rolling his eyes the boy stepped aside and let the soldiers in. Alex followed them back to the living room, kicked Tom off the couch and took his seat.

"Ow, Alex," the other boy said rubbing his behind. "What was that for?"

"Why did you invite them?" Alex asked, not having the energy to form any anger. Sure it was his birthday but he knew Tom wouldn't do it if he honestly thought it a bad idea. Tom was a little nuts but when it came to the people he cared about he was unnervingly aware. Which was why Alex was questioning him. What made the other boy think he needed or wanted them here?

"Because Alex, it's a good idea," he said.

"What do you mean?" he asked glancing at the adults. Jack and Eagle were sitting on the other end of the couch, smiling and joking. Wolf was taking a piece of his already half eaten cake and Fox and Snake were in the two armchairs watching the show.

Tom gave him a smirk. "You'll see," he said then turned back to the room. He got off the floor and went to go annoy Snake. Alex got up to talk with Wolf.

They were there for his birthday, an invitation they didn't need to accept as he would have never known about it, but did anyway. Alex didn't have that much of a problem with the soldiers anymore and it was kind of nice to know they cared enough to bother.

Making small talk with the soldier he'd once been mortal enemies with about the latest batch of trainees (turned out K-Unit volunteered their time at Brecon Beacons) was a surreal experience and not one he would have chosen to have. But it was nice to know Tom cared enough about him and Jack to make it his mission to bring her a little love and him some more friends. There was no doubt in Alex's mind that this was what it was all about. He knew Tom very well; knew how the other boy thought.

It was a bit of a dangerous mission on Tom's part as Alex would be getting revenge for the meddling. He had to keep up appearances after all. And Alex's pranks were inescapable and would most certainly leave a bruise. But for now, he followed Tom's advice and waited to see exactly what the boy had meant even if he already had an idea. He just hoped K-Unit were much more sane than Tom. He wouldn't be able to handle anymore crazy friends. One was most certainly enough.


	9. The Things We Deal With

It was rather difficult for outsiders to understand exactly what K-Unit was talking about when they said that those two boys, the ones everyone talked about at Brecon Beacons, were not in fact people you would want to meet. Many of the trainees had found themselves on the receiving end of one of Wolf's infamous glares upon asking what Cub and his accomplice were like. Wolf would snap that it was none of their business and that they should thank whatever God they prayed to that they would probably never meet the two. Snake responded with a simple shrug and a, "They're okay. Typical teenagers." Fox tended to avoid answering at all (a habit from his time in MI6 where's Cub's name was practically Taboo because saying it in certain places was a security breach) and would glare at the questioning person until they went away and if they didn't he called Wolf over. So people learned fairly quickly that when you wanted to know the latest story you went to the jolly soldier. Eagle.

He was by far one of the nicest trainers around. Still tough and not afraid to hurt feelings but he seemed to actually genuinely empathize with the trainees. He also had the best stories. It usually took the freshest batch of trainees a good week to both find out about Cub and Accomplice and then believe that, yes, they were real. If they had wanted to, K-Unit could have tried to crush the rumors and the stories a long time ago but some things just didn't stay quiet.

Cub and Accomplice's true identities had never been made known but that was hardly important. To the trainees the two boys were something of a reality television show. It was a good story to hear during a rare down time and something to keep their minds off of the hell that is Brecon Beacons. However, they really never knew the boys to be more than a story. It was confusing to them as to why K-Unit seemed wary of seeing them again. Eagle would always answer that question with, "Those two are magnets for bullets and explosions, and while it is my job to handle such things, even I need a little rest."

This type of answer made people think that K-Unit was most certainly not telling everything. They didn't push the matter; it wasn't their place.

But K-Unit were legends in of themselves having taken on SCORPIA, Snakehead, and a few other high profiles, and winning the battles as well. That was rare, and it was plain as day that they were the best. So when J-Unit was asked last minute to provide backup for their ex-trainers in the field they were more than happy to help. It was just the icing on the cake that they were going to a bank to extract Cub and Accomplice from a hostage situation. This was what every trainee dreamed of. The chance to work with the best. However, what they got was most certainly not what they expected.

* * *

Panther led his team across the crowded parking lot and towards a regular looking police trailer. It was, in actuality, home base for the on-site SAS soldiers and the MI6 agent sent to consult. He opened the door and went inside, saluting Wolf, and getting his orders. They were to watch the monitors and inform him if anything looked wrong. It was Gecko's job to hack back into the security cameras inside and see if they could get an eye. Nobody else was having any luck.

They all worked in a flurry as they prepared for the first call inside. The police negotiator was there as Eagle's backup in case he failed, which no one was really expecting but you never knew.

It was a normal neighborhood bank in Chelsea and J-Unit was told that the two boys they were there to save had been inside cashing a check when the five robbers came in. There'd been an immediate scuffle and the robbers were unable to stop a teller from pressing the silent alarm. The nearest police officer had been a mere block away and suddenly they found themselves with a hostage situation.

Panther wasn't all that concerned about the two mini-legends inside. K-Unit certainly didn't seem nervous. Snake was even reading a science magazine and Wolf just looked downright annoyed. He kept grumbling about having to go through this all again. Fox was idly watching Gecko work, looking faintly bored. Eagle was the only one of K-Unit pulling any major amount of work but then he was the only one with a job to do at the moment. He kept tapping his finger in a seemingly nervous way on the small table he was working at until Fox snapped at him to stop.

"Eagle! Would you relax? She can hardly blame you for this," he said. Snake shot an amused look at them. Eagle narrowed his eyes.

"You don't know that," he replied. "She's a redheaded, American woman; she'll do what she wants and have the scary temper to back it all up." Wolf rolled his eyes.

"Are you ready to make this damn call?" he growled, arms crossed. "Let's work as fast as we can to get these people out before Accomplice does something stupid."

"What would he do?" Panther asked, curious. Who wouldn't be? They were talking about the kid who had manipulated K-Unit more times than Wolf was willing to admit. Eagle however, was more than happy to share the stories and with a good amount of gesturing.

"Open his mouth," Wolf growled. Panther just raised his eyebrow in question. However, it was Snake who responded.

"If he starts talking bullets will start flying," he said. "Accomplice has the innate ability of pushing all the wrong buttons."

"Better hope he's never in charge of missile control," Fox chimed in. "He'd launch them all at the same time and have them explode outside the atmosphere just so he could claim to have put on the best fireworks display in the history of mankind." Wolf gave his teammate a weird look at that but the other man just shrugged.

"He told us that's what he would do," Snake said. Panther shared a look with his teammates at that. Dear God, who would do that? Hell, who would come up with something like that? He could understand some terrorist wanting the launch codes so that he could destroy the world but to just want to claim that they had put on the best fireworks display ever? That was over his head. K-Unit almost made it sound as if the boy was serious.

Eagle turned back to his work as Wolf rolled his eyes again, crossed his arms, and stared the screen of Eagle's laptop. Five minutes later they were ready to place the first call. The conversation would take place on speaker phone so the people inside the trailer were ordered into silence. They had to call three times before someone finally picked up. The ensuing conversation was by far the strangest thing Panther had ever heard.

"Thank you for calling, we're a little busy right now but if would like to leave a message a bank robber will get back to you as soon as he pleases," said what sounded like a teenage boy. Wolf actually growled at the voice.

"Tom, what are you doing?" Eagle asked, sounding incredibly tired.

"Well, right now I'm hiding in a manager's office. They won't answer, they aren't interested in you," he replied, unnaturally chipper considering the situation.

"Where's Cub?" Wolf asked, cutting into the conversation now that he was pretty sure Tom was the only one listening to the conversation and even that was a stretch.

"You know, I'm not quite sure where I left him," Tom replied. "He's probably plotting something heroic right now. There are an awful lot of hostages. About thirty." Eagle started jotting down notes.

"Where are they keeping the hostages?" Wolf asked, quickly jumping on the opportunity to gain some information.

"In the room right in front of the vault," the boy replied. "Where else? That room has no windows, the vents are tiny, and if you storm the building while they're still working on getting the damn thing to open you've got thirty hostages between your bullet and their head. You better have a really good plan."

"Tom, can you see that room?" Wolf asked, taking the bad news in stride.

"Of course not, I'm cowering under a desk," he replied. "And don't even think of asking me to move. I will not get shot."

"Is the office you're hiding in anywhere near the vault room?" Wolf asked, completely ignoring most of the boy's last reply.

"No, I'm at the opposite end," he said. "Why?"

"Is there a window you can leave through?" Wolf asked.

"It doesn't open," he said. "You'd have to break it."

"Why can't you break it?" Wolf asked with a perplexed look on his face.

"And how to do suggest I do that Wolf-man?" the boy snapped with a surprising amount of force for one so young. "With the cheap, plastic office chair? Or how about my nonexistent muscles? Or how about I be like you and glare a hole through it?" Wolf glared at the white phone box and Panther was honestly surprised the thing didn't combust.

"Tom, don't get snappy," Eagle said, his tone suggesting he'd said this more than once. "Can you tell us exactly what office you're in? We'll try to come get you."

"Don't bother," the boy replied. "You won't get through that glass without making noise. It'll be like asking them to shoot someone. Just wait for Cub."

"Why, what is he doing?" Eagle asked, this time his tone unrecognizable to Panther. The boy heaved a sigh.

"I'm not sure," he said. "He shoved me in here, said to stay, and disappeared. He's probably with the other hostages. He'd want to try and stop them from hurting anyone."

"Alright buddy, hang tight. Do you have your mobile on you?" Eagle asked.

"Yeah, always. I'm a teenager with important calls to make." Snake smirked, Fox stifled a chuckle, and Wolf rolled his eyes.

"I'll call you on that if we need to talk again, but keep it on silent."

"No, really?" the boy replied sarcastically. "I was planning on turning the ringer up full blast. It's a good song, they might enjoy it."

"Just keep your head down and be quiet," Wolf snapped before ending the call.

"That was interesting," the police negotiator noted. "I've never heard a hostage act so strangely."

"What do you mean?" Lion asked. "He sounded pretty calm to me."

"Exactly," the man replied. "He shouldn't be that calm." Panther saw K-Unit give each other a long look before abruptly making themselves look busy. The policeman didn't even notice he was so caught up in his thoughts about why the boy seemed so calm.

Panther of course knew. It didn't take a genius to figure out who had answered the phone. Accomplice. He was interested in meeting the kid, wanted to pick his brain about codes. He thought the boy's code was the most interesting he'd ever seen. It was so off the wall it was uncrackable. There was also the fact that he existed. Almost everyone who heard of them wanted to meet Accomplice and Cub, if for no other reason than they were hoping to come back with a good story to rival K-Unit's. Snake sat himself next to Panther cutting into his thoughts.

"I can't believe we have to do this again," he mumbled more to himself than to Panther but Panther couldn't help but comment.

"Again?" he questioned. Snake nodded distractedly.

"Yeah, last time it was just Accomplice though," he responded staring at the monitor that showed the back of the building. Panther couldn't tell if he was worried, annoyed, or a strange mixture of the two. Snake was a fairly hard man to read.

"I got it!" Gecko exclaimed suddenly and Wolf was looking over his shoulder in an instant taking in the hostage filled room of the room directly in front of the vault. The soldier huffed after a few moments.

"He's not there," he said.

"Where would he be?" Eagle asked looking a little off.

"Start checking all the cameras," Wolf ordered. "See if you can find two boys, fifteen, probably doing something ridiculous." Gecko nodded and started tapping away on the keyboard, shifting the screen between different cameras all over the bank. He found the office Accomplice had shut himself in and they saw him just poking out from under the desk, texting on his mobile. They paused to try to see what he was doing when Eagle's pocket started buzzing.

The man pulled out the SAS issued mobile and looked at the screen.

"It's Tom," he said, a small amount of shock filtering unto his face.

"Is that a big deal?" Monkey asked. It was his first contribution to the conversation. The man just rarely had anything to say.

"He shouldn't have this number," Wolf answered. Eagle looked away slightly, just avoiding eye contact. Wolf saw it and growled, "Right?"

"I'll tell you later," Eagle replied, opening the text message and reading it aloud, "Marshmallow clouds and jellybeans abound." Wolf scowled. Panther was incredibly confused. They'd been given samples of the code but never the whole thing. _What was that kid talking about?_

"The hell?" Lion said, summing up everybody's thoughts.

"Just be thankful you don't have to deal with this all the time," Fox said, arms crossed. "What's he talking about?"

"I have no idea," Eagle said. "Hang on, I have Smithers's decoder." He went to his laptop and pulled up a program Panther was very familiar with. Fox had taught them how to use it during training. Eagle typed in the code, selected the type of code the decoder was translating, and hit enter. He only had to wait a few moments before it spit the English translation back out. "Marshmallow clouds means out of time, and jellybeans abound means lots of bullets. Something's going down."

"I don't see anything on camera," Gecko said, rapidly flipping to see if he missed something but all the robbers and hostages were still in that room.

"He's probably just telling us to hurry up," Fox said but shared a glance with Eagle.

"Give me your mobile," Wolf said suddenly and Eagle tossed it to him. Wolf started pressing buttons at a furious pace.

"What are you saying to him?" Snake asked.

"Hang tight, we're coming in," Wolf responded.

"Think he'll hang tight?" Fox asked.

"Not a chance," Wolf said, and then turned towards Gecko. "Find the other one." The man nodded and did as ordered.

"How do plan on getting those hostages out safely?" the police negotiator asked hotly. Panther had almost forgotten he was there.

"With a little help from an insane person," Wolf replied with a completely straight face. The rest of his Unit smirked. Eagle's mobile started buzzing again, this time with a call. Looking at the screen Wolf answered it on speaker. "Hang tight kid."

"You've got a plan?" the boy asked sounding positively delighted.

"I do," Wolf said. "But I need you to do something for me." Gecko snapped his fingers to get Wolf's attention without actually speaking. Wolf looked at him and saw the other boy up on the screen; Panther was positive that this was the famous Cub. Wolf leaned over to see what he was doing. He was picking the lock to the janitor's closet. Wolf smiled.

"What do you want me to do?" Accomplice asked sounding reluctant.

"I want you to play a little prank," Wolf responded.

"Oooooo, do tell," came the twisted sounding reply.

"Do you have your lighter on you?" Wolf asked. Accomplice paused before answering.

"What makes you think I have a lighter?" he asked.

"I've been through your pockets before kid," Wolf responded. "I've also read the psych evaluation MI6 has on you. I know how much you like to stare at the flame." _A pyro?_ Panther thought incredulously. He could tell by Eagle's face, by far the most expressive, that the rest of K-Unit had had no idea about this.

"Yes, I have the lighter," the boy replied.

"Perfect, we've turned off the power, but the sprinkler system will still work. We'll set it off and that's your cue to vacate."

"Right now?" he asked. Wolf looked at the screen to see Cub pulling out bottles of chemicals.

"No, wait till Cub comes to get you," he said. "You're gonna set a fire."

"Won't that kill a lot of people?" the boy asked, a little blankly. He sounded interested but not concerned which in turn set off warning bells in Panther's head.

"No," Wolf replied. "Cub will explain it."

"Fine," he huffed. "By the way, if you ever go through my pockets again I'll set killer raccoons on you. They'll scratch your eyes out."

"Noted." Accomplice just hung up.

"Are we seriously going to pull a Pyro Dream?" Snake asked, sounding highly concerned. "Don't you think that's a bad idea?"

"What is a Pyro Dream?" the policeman practically screeched.

"It's a weird plan, but it'll work," Wolf said. "We don't have any other option. Those guys are holed up good and tight and they don't even plan on answering the damn phone and opening communications. This will send them head over heels to leave the building. Once it starts we'll go in through a window on the opposite side of the bank and cut off exits there. The hostages will flood out through the lobby as far away from the fire as possible. They should all leave through the front doors safely."

"Should?" the policeman asked bitingly and Panther was almost inclined to agree with him. This sounded completely crazy. What if they killed someone?

"It's no more dangerous than storming the building would be," Fox said. It only just occurred to Panther that K-Unit had known exactly what Cub was doing before Wolf had even asked Accomplice about his lighter.

The bank was built with two long hallways of offices set across from each other with a wide area that housed the lobby and tellers in the center with the vault and vault room just behind that center section. With an uncontrolled fire coming down that hall and an army of police outside the front door, they would have no choice but to try and leave through a window in an office in the other hall. They probably wouldn't make it far but it was supposedly a better shot than the front door.

The abandoned hostages would leave through the front doors. Panther had to give K-Unit kudos. It was pretty ingenious if not a little dangerous. But they were right; it was as dangerous as storming the building would be. Not only that but they seemed to have a way to control it, were confident even, that they could.

"How did you come up this?" he asked, and received an amused smirk from Eagle.

"We were going through how best to separate hostages from hostage takers a couple months ago in a touch up on training and Cub came up with it. We thought he was crazy until he explained how easy it would be to control the fire enough to give the hostages a pathway out of danger. He called it a Pyro Dream because of Accomplice."

"What do you mean?" Lion asked. "What does Accomplice have to do with the plan?"

"Apparently he inspired it," Eagle responded.

"Gecko," Wolf said sharply interrupting the policeman who had opened his mouth to say something. "Hack into the sprinkler control. Keep an eye on Cub and Accomplice and disable the sprinklers in whatever hall they're setting up in. Make sure the ones in the lobby area are functional but on manual override. You won't turn them on until I say so. The rest of J-Unit, Fox and Snake, you guys will be leading the police in through the opposite hall. Stay out of sight until the robbers are completely in that hall, and then engage. Stay on one side and try to take them out before they pin your location. Non lethal shots as much as possible. Keep them distracted while the hostages leave and be prepared for a gun fight. They won't roll over and give up. Be ready to go in fifteen minutes."

* * *

Tom had never been so excited to use his lighter. They had a well mixed and well placed batch of chemicals that would mostly certainly go BOOM! The trail of bleach started halfway down the hall and the three jugs of opened bleach, the two spray bottles of Windex, and one half empty bottle of soap sat at the end. Tom wasn't sure if soap was flammable but if it was all the better.

It would start a huge fire but they were relatively certain it would work. Alex had explained the plan, and then explained how K-Unit would even know as Alex most certainly hadn't called them, and then he explained how they wouldn't kill anybody. Firefighters were on standby to fight the flames from the outside in, once it got good and going. The sprinklers were set to go off in the lobby to allow the hostages time to leave. The robbers would be forced to try to escape through the other hallway. If the vault was opened they could have hidden in there but the manager had managed to get it closed on an emergency lockdown before they'd secured him. These robbers weren't the smartest guys in the world.

Alex dialed Eagle's work number (stolen from his file along with his address) from Tom's mobile, not even bothering to question how the other boy had gotten a hold of it. Some things were better left a mystery.

"We're ready," Alex said, not bothering to whisper. The robbers wouldn't hear from where they were. Everyone was holed up in that little room. Alex listened to what sounded like Wolf then nodded at Tom. "Do it." Tom gave a wide smile and brought a flame out of his bright pink lighter. He lit a small piece of paper and then dropped that onto the beginning of the bleach trail. The two boys took off to the lobby, ducking down behind the teller's counter.

Five seconds later they heard a huge boom as the containers of chemicals exploded. A few seconds after that and one of the robbers came tearing out of the room, gun raised. He took one look at the growing flames and turned back to his friends, warning them with a strangled shout. Less than a minute later the flames were almost to the lobby and the robbers turned tail and ran full pelt down the other hallway as predicted.

Alex darted to the now unguarded hostages and ordered them out of the room with a shout. They took one look at the flames and the unguarded front door and took off. Tom reached the doors first and instead of bothering with any locks he grabbed a chair and threw it through the glass door. He did the same with the second one.

Most of the hostages were just starting to cross the lobby when the first gunshots rang out and the sprinklers came on. Some people dropped to the floor on instinct, screaming. Alex started pulling people up with a shout to leave and leave now. Tom turned to help him. A second group of police officers rushed through the shattered doors to pull the now arriving hostages out of the bank.

It was complete chaos but with the robbers thoroughly distracted and cut off from the lobby everybody got out. The robbers were quickly detained and everyone evacuated, leaving the building to the fire department. Tom and Alex were the last out and were grabbed roughly from behind. Tom twisted his head around to see Eagle. He forced them through the crowd and straight into a police trailer.

Tom dropped into the nearest chair with a weary sigh.

"You okay?" Wolf asked. He was sitting near another soldier Tom had never seen before. He didn't answer so Alex did.

"We're fine," he said sinking into another chair. "Just a little tired. It's been a long night."

"Damn straight!" Tom snapped, thoroughly pissed. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "Do have any idea how late I am?"

"Late to what?" Wolf asked.

"I had a date," Tom snapped again. "I can't tell her I was held hostage, she'll never believe me!"

"I'm surprised she'd believe anything that came out of your mouth," Wolf said. Tom glared at him but Wolf payed him no mind, instead turning to the still unknown soldier. "Turn the rest of the sprinklers on. Let's help those fire boys out a bit." The guy turned back to his computer and started tapping away at his keyboard. Tom crossed his arms and pouted. He'd been looking forward to that date. She was really hot and he'd been hoping for a snog.

He was still pouting when the missing half of K-Unit and another guy he didn't know came into the trailer.

"Lion and Monkey are helping with the prisoners," Snake reported. "Situation is controlled." Wolf nodded then gestured at Tom.

"Let's get this kid home," he said. Fox looked at the still pouting Tom with a smile threatening to come out.

"You alright there Accomplice?" he asked.

"No, I'm not," he snapped.

"He missed his date," Alex explained with a smirk.

"Don't smirk," Tom shot back. "This all your fault."

"My fault?" Alex exclaimed. "How is this my fault?!"

"You attract violence," Tom replied. "I'm never going anywhere with you again."

"Fine," Alex said. "Good luck finding someone to take you to New York."

"You guys are going to New York?" Snake asked suddenly, jumping at the random tidbit of information. Alex nodded.

"Yeah, didn't Eagle tell you?" he asked. K-Unit all looked at Eagle expectantly.

"I'll tell you later," he said, running a hand through his short hair. Tom smirked; Jack had asked Eagle to go with them to America for her family reunion. They'd been going out for a month now and he was fairly nervous about meeting her family. Tom thought it was a bit soon as well, but Jack was masking the entire thing as a simple stop over to a much longer vacation. They were also going to see Alex's not-quite-but-might-as-well-be girlfriend, Sabina. Tom had been asked to go along and he was very excited to destroy Eagle.

Alex smirked at Tom again and Tom returned it. Really, that was too easy.

"By the way," Fox said turning back to Tom. "Why did you send us that message? You couldn't have possibly had any idea what was going on in the hostage room." Tom looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Do you have any idea how boring it is to be a hostage?" he asked sarcastically. He felt more than saw Alex tense.

"That doesn't mean you send false reports!" Wolf practically exploded. "You could get somebody hurt doing that!"

"But nobody got hurt," Tom pointed out. "And it got you to move faster. That was fun; we should do it again sometime." Wolf was visibly reigning in his anger at the boy. He saw the two soldiers he didn't know looking at him with completely closed faces. He wondered what they thought of him. If they'd gone through Brecon Beacons they'd have heard of him; Eagle had let slip that they were still using his code as a teaching tool.

He'd been a little put out at first. That code wasn't meant to be anything brilliant. In fact, he'd created it that way simply as a joke, nothing more. He'd been trying to get a depressed Alex back up on his feet, nothing more nothing less. It irked him that K-Unit wouldn't tell anyone the truth about it and he knew they knew as he'd told Eagle point blank months ago. He'd rather be known for being a good friend than for a spy talent he didn't think he really had anyway.

One of the men he didn't know stared at him for a moment. Tom stared back knowing without a doubt that he would win any stare down. After all, he won against Alex all the time. The man blinked and snapped his head back towards Wolf as he practically shouted, "Would you stop staring down my men? What is it with you and that freaky stare?" Tom smirked, still not bothering to look away from the man.

"Lets people know that there's more than meets the eye." The first stranger, the guy in charge of the sprinklers, looked at him strangely.

"You really are a weird kid," he said as if he'd been told but was only now seeing the proof.

"Of course," Tom agreed. "I have to be."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because," Alex answered before Tom could. "K-Unit deserves it." The two boys started laughing at the faces of the people in the trailer. And once they started they couldn't stop. They were just starting to calm down several minutes later when Wolf grumbled, "The things we deal with," in such a frustrated and irritated tone it set them off again. It wasn't that funny really, but for some reason they couldn't help but laugh. It was just one of those moments.

Eagle drove two slightly giggly boys home that night. Jack almost squeezed the life out of Alex, just like every time he came home from danger. K-Unit was decidedly not surprised about Tom's information theft and more than amused that Eagle was getting ready to meet Jack's parents, something he was fully nervous about.

And as for J-Unit, well, they were still trying to understand why Accomplice acted the way he did. But they did come to a sudden understanding with K-Unit. They now knew what their esteemed mentors had to go through on a regular basis. Panther gave them kudos for being sane.


	10. All Your Fault

Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait but life's been insane! However, I finally got a little bit of time to edit this so here your update! Enjoy!

And a big thank you to my beta prone2dementia. Her editing skills are awesome.

Also this is based off an episode of Psych, Christmas Joy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider or Psych.

* * *

Tom Harris was the kind of kid who could latch onto some sort of idea and never let go—no matter how stupid it seemed. He was someone who saw things for more than they were worth, and when he got the notion to do something he would do it, no matter what anybody said.

If this quality had been put to a decent use—if Tom chose to focus his energies on being a better student or football player—it might not have mattered as much. But that wasn't how his mind worked, and Eagle was one of those unlucky enough to find this out the hard way.

It had been a normal, albeit long, trip to Jack's childhood neighborhood in New York City, and both Tom and Alex had behaved themselves in the sense that there were no international incidents and nobody was arrested by Air Marshalls. It wasn't until much later that Tom's insanity started to shine through and, even then, Eagle was positive that he was the only one who saw it for what it was.

The reunion was set for just a week before Christmas and all the festivities and 'magic' in the air seemed to fuel Tom's battiness. He should have known that being around the two boys could only lead to trouble and a crazy adventure that he would, under no circumstance, tell anyone about.

-

-

"We have to help Santa!" Tom shouted as he burst through the door of their large hotel room.

Andy looked up from the television show he was watching in surprise. Despite the completely strange statement, he was more focused on the amount of distress in the kid's voice.

"What?" was all he could manage.

Jack was out with her aunt, mother, and sister for a day of girl bonding. Andy was supposed to keep an eye on the boys, though he really didn't think they needed it and hadn't bothered to ask where they were going when they left. He was kind of regretting that now.

"We have to help Santa!" Tom repeated, though it came out much more calmly.

"What are you talking about?" Andy asked, wondering if it was really worth knowing—one honestly could never tell with this kid.

"Santa got thrown in jail, but he doesn't deserve it! We've gotta help!"

"Where's Alex?" was the only answer he got.

Tom's shoulders slumped a little and he huffed.

"Are you even listening to me?" he asked.

"Yes, you want to break Father Christmas out of jail," Andy replied.

"That was _not_ what I said."

"Where is Alex?"

"Who knows?" The boy crossed his arms, clearly annoyed at being thwarted in whatever drama he was trying to stir up.

Andy might not have known him as well as Jack and Alex, but he knew the kid well enough to have a semblance of what he was up to. He sighed and started putting on his shoes and leather coat. He grabbed his wallet and the keys to the rental car, just in case he needed to drive somewhere (like the airport, so he could go home).

"C'mon," he said, grabbing the collar of Tom's still cold coat and dragging him back out into the hallway. "Take me to wherever you were."

The soldier followed the boy out of the hotel and to the park across the street. In the square of the park was a temporary building for 'Santa's Village' and Tom led him directly into it. He saw Alex standing by the peanut vendor, eating a bag of brown sugar, roasted peanuts like he was part elephant. Andy split off from Tom and approached him.

"Alex," he snapped, and the blond boy looked at him with an innocent and confused expression. "What the hell is going on?"

"What? Tom didn't tell you?" he asked around his mouthful of nut.

"Yes, he did, sort of. Explain it better."

"Santa got in a fight and got arrested. Tom thinks he was framed," Alex replied.

"He was!" Tom piped up indignantly, whilst staring somewhat unnaturally at the plastic reindeer attached to the plastic sled some four yards away.

Confused as to what he was attempting, Andy asked, "What are you doing?"

"He's in a stare down with the reindeer," Alex replied dully as if that was completely normal. It probably was.

"I don't think you're gonna win that staredown, buddy," Andy said, amused. "So, you think this Santa guy doesn't deserve to be arrested?"

It wasn't until the question was out of his mouth that he realized he'd said the wrong thing. He would also realize later that he'd completely missed his opportunity to clamp down on the insanity that would ensue by reminding Tom of whatever it was he had planned.

"Yes! Now we have to go to the police station," Tom said, taking one of Andy's wrists. Alex took the other and, together, they tried to drag him back across the street and to the hotel's garage.

"Hurry it up Eagle! We're wasting time!"

They managed to get him all the way to the entrance of the village before he managed to stop them.

"Whoa! Boys! We are not getting involved in any way, shape, or form!" he practically shouted, attracting a little too much attention. He dropped his voice. "It isn't our place to get involved."

"But Santa!" Tom protested.

"Is just some guy in a suit!" Andy replied. He couldn't believe he was actually having this conversation with two fifteen year old boys, one of whom was an international superspy. "And you have no idea if he really is innocent of whatever you think you saw."

"But we really did see the fight," Alex replied. "The guy didn't start it."

"Maybe not," Andy conceded. "But you don't have any idea what it might have been about. Now get back to the hotel and drop it." He clamped down on one shoulder of each boy and forcibly pushed them across the street, into the lobby of the hotel, and upstairs. "And stop wandering off. Jack'll kill me if you guys disappear."

Once they were back, Andy returned to watching television and the two boys went into their room. Andy lost track of the time and, soon enough, Jack was back.

"Hey," she said as she dropped her bags by the door. "How was your day?"

"Fine," he said, deciding not to tell her about the momentary 'Save Santa' crusade. "You?"

"Oh, same as ever," she said. "My mother talked at me, my sister stuck her nose up, and Auntie Jane is just plain senile. Where are the boys?"

"In the other room," he said.

She poked her head through the door.

"Um, no they aren't," she said.

Andy jumped up from his spot on the bed and poked his head into the empty room. There was two open suitcases with all sorts of junk and clothes spilling from them, a pile of candywrappers, and bedsheets bunched up on the floor. All in all, it looked like a normal teenage room sans teenagers.

"Crap!" he exclaimed, and started putting on his coat again.

"What's going on?" Jack asked.

"I'll explain on the way," he said, and they made their way back to the park. He told her what had happened that afternoon, and she couldn't help but let loose a giggle.

"Only those two would feel the need to save Christmas by getting Santa out of jail," she said with a fond smile.

"Has this kind of thing happened before?" he asked

On the inside, he wondered just how much he'd have to put up with if he and Jack became truly serious. He liked her a lot, but there was only so much a guy could take.

"Well, there was the Easter Bunny incident of '97, but that's not important," she said dismissively.

Andy couldn't believe that whatever had happened could deserve such a name. What had happened? He was almost afraid to ask. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on how one looked at it) he ran out of time to question as they reached the entrance to the darkened and closed down Santa's Village. They saw the two teenagers standing by the sign that designated where the Santa line started, and made their way over. Alex noticed them once they were halfway across and quickly moved to meet them, with Tom right behind him.

"What are you two doing?" Jack said. "Andy told you to drop it."

"But we figured out what's going on," Tom said brightly. "It's a con!"

"Yeah, I know," Andy replied gruffly, crossing his arms to both scare them and try to keep himself warm in the frigid December air.

"You do?" Alex asked, a little surprised.

"Yes, it doesn't matter what country you're in. These places are a rip off."

Both boys looked annoyed at that.

"That was not what I meant," Tom snapped.

"Then what did you mean?" Jack asked in a placating voice.

"Well," Alex began. He would be the one to give the explanation because he was, by far, the more coherent of the two boys. "Turns out that the guy who plays Santa is a con artist who has been squeezing information from the kids to find out which houses are going to be empty over the holidays."

"How do they get the addresses?" Jack asked, skipping over what Andy considered to be a more important question: Why did this matter?

"The company that takes the pictures has the addresses on their computer, and Santa's partner works for the company," Alex explained. "They planned to hit the houses on the twenty-fourth."

"How in the world do you know this?" Andy asked, wondering why they should really even _care_.

Tom looked at him as if he was an idiot.

"Alex is a super spy; I'm the most observant teenager on the planet. How could we _not_ know all this?" he said, with his hands on his hips and a mocking tone that Andy in no way appreciated.

"Alright fine," he snapped. "Then call in a tip to the police and let's drop it."

"Don't you think we should try to catch them?" Tom asked.

"No," Andy replied firmly. He would not be chasing a con man in a Father Christmas suit all over New York City. He was a member of the SAS, one of the most elite fighting forces in the world. Unless Santa happened to have a bomb designed to take out half the country, he really didn't care. This was supposed to be a holiday—not a crusade to find the wackiest crime and then try to stop it. "It is not our responsibility. Our responsibility is to tell the nearest cop and let them handle it. Got that, Harris?"

He honestly didn't mean to break out his soldier composure while talking to the kid. It just sort of slipped out. Tom noticed however, and reacted accordingly.

"Yeah, Eagle, I got it," he said a little coldly.

"Alex, are you okay?" Jack asked suddenly, prying Andy and Tom out of their small argument.

Andy looked sharply at the teenage spy, who was staring at the life-size nativity scene.

"Wasn't that wise man black this afternoon?" he asked.

_Oh, for the love of-!_

"Who cares?" he snapped aloud. "It's cold, I'm hungry, and can we please go?"

Alex ignored him and moved to the scene. Everyone followed him, Andy included, albeit very reluctantly and last. Alex climbed over the rope designed to tell people that they really shouldn't be in there, and walked up to one of the wise men. He peered closely at him and then poked him in the cheek. It was then that Andy realized he really shouldn't have allowed Alex do that. It wasn't because he'd get in trouble for ignoring the rope barrier. No, it was because the wise man was actually a dead body that toppled over the second the blond boy touched him. Jack gave a strangled scream in her surprise and Tom's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. Alex just stood there.

"You know, I'm pretty sure I saw a cop on the corner by the hotel," the boy said. "I'll go get him."

He then took off running, Tom right behind him.

"Yeah, _now _they want to involve the proper authorities," Andy snapped to thin air.

After all, nobody was listening to him anymore.

-

-

And that was how Andy Rosten of the SAS, codenamed Eagle, found himself sitting in a New York City police department interrogation room, trying to explain why and how they came to find the dead body in Santa's Village. He blamed both Tom and Alex for his predicament. Since the two boys were minors, Andy had to sit in with Alex while Jack (whom everybody loved) took Tom off his hands. Thankfully, all he really had to do was listen to the blond boy who could certainly handle a questioning by these guys. He was SAS trained after all.

"So let me get this straight," the officer said, looking down at his notepad. "You witnessed a fight between Santa and a stranger. Then, when Santa was arrested, your friend decided that he was innocent and that only you two could get him out of jail. You then involved Mr. Rosten, who took you back to the hotel. Once there, you snuck out and went back to the park to look for clues. It was then that your guardians caught up with you, and you noticed one of the wise men was a different skin tone. And that was when you discovered it was actually a dead body."

It sounded so bad when he said it like that. Andy actually winced.

"Yes, sir," Alex replied politely. "That's how it happened."

"And in this entire process, you didn't think to tell a police officer or a security guard, that something fishy might be going on?" the man asked.

His tone could be construed as condensing—but Andy wasn't too sure because of the accent. How did these people understand each other?

"Not really, no," Alex said a bit too brightly.

Tom was rubbing off on the boy. Andy brought up one hand to rub his temple just as the officer looked at him.

"Don't look at me. I didn't raise him," he snapped.

He was in no way at fault for this.

"And what exactly were you trying to do?" the officer asked, turning back to the boy who shrugged.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" he asked, disbelieving.

"No, it was all Tom's idea."

Andy couldn't quite contain his frustrated groan at that. Of course it was. It all made sense now. Oh, how he wished he was back in England right now...

"Look," Andy finally said, leaning back towards the table he'd been inching away from since he'd sat down. "Obviously, they're just two dumb teenagers. They didn't have anything to do with any murders, so can we go?"

The officer gave him a look that suggested he was going to say 'no' simply because Andy had brought up the mere possibility of leaving. However, common sense won out and he nodded.

"Yeah, you're free to go."

The two got up and left the small room. They ended up waiting for Jack and Tom in the waiting room at the front of the small station.

"You're not allowed to hang out with Tom anymore," Andy said suddenly.

Alex looked at him sharply.

"You can't tell me who I can or can't hang out with," he said, and crossed his arms. "You're not my legal guardian and, even if you were, I'd ignore you anyway. Besides, what do you have against Tom?"

"The kid is a loose cannon," the soldier replied. "He just got us dragged to a police station and into a murder investigation. This is supposed to be a holiday—not a job."

Alex shrugged.

"This is all your fault anyway," the boy responded.

"My fault?" the man almost spluttered, and then gave a harsh laugh. "Tell me, Cub, how is this _my_ fault?"

"Tom tried to tell you something was going on," Alex said. "If you'd listened to him, he wouldn't have gone back."

"Wait, you mean you didn't want to do any of this?"

He really should have known that none of this was the spy's idea. If anything, Tom had taken off on his own and Alex had merely followed, probably to bring him back before the kid got into trouble.

"Tom took off," Alex confirmed. "There's something about the holidays that always puts Tom on edge. Ever since his parents started fighting, he's never had much of a Christmas spirit. I think he thinks that saving Father Christmas, even if he is just some guy in suit, will save the holiday overall."

Andy nodded.

"In other words, he's a little messed up," he replied.

"Yeah, just a little."

They fell silent after that. There was just nothing left to say.

-

-

"I cannot believe you four got arrested," Janice Starbright barked from the front seat of the minivan.

Jack's parents had to come pick them up from the police station and were in no way happy about it.

"We didn't get arrested, Mom," Jack replied with an eye roll.

She slipped her hand into Andy's and squeezed it as if asking for some backup. He just stayed silent. He was already not the most well liked person in the Starbright home. Apparently, he was now the biggest reason their little girl was staying on the other side of the ocean. If anything, they should blame Alex—as Jack would never leave him. But Alex had perfected the puppy dog look with the big brown eyes and shaggy blond hair of his a long time ago. Andy had been a little thrown when he'd first seen the teen use it on Jack to get out of being grounded. Even the soldier had to admit it was adorable.

_Change of thought, change of thought, change of thou-_.

"Then what exactly were you doing there?" the woman snapped.

"We were witnesses," Jack responded. "Alex and Tom found a body in Santa's Village."

"And why exactly were they alone?" Janice asked, looking sharply at Andy.

Jack's Dad seemed to be ignoring the entire conversation. Lucky man.

"They aren't babies," Andy replied. "There was no need to babysit them."

Janice seemed to be of a different opinion and huffed in anger. They might be fudging the facts a little bit, but they really didn't have a choice. The less bad the situation seemed, the better it was for them. Andy looked over his shoulder at the two boys in the very backseat. Alex was doing something with his digital camera, and Tom was looking over his shoulder. Both had a slight smirk on their faces. The expressions made Andy a little nervous. Jack saw it too, and reached back to slap Alex's knee. When he looked up, she shook her head. Andy doubted the attempt to head them off would do any good.

He was right. They had agreed to spend the night at Jack's parents' house for a little extra 'bonding', but Andy was positive it was so that the elder Starbrights could keep an eye on them. Apparently, Jack had been quite the hell raiser in her day and it had yet to be forgotten. Late that night, the four of them were sleeping on a mat of blankets. There weren't enough beds for all of them plus the other guests in the house, so they had the luck of sleeping on the floor.

Andy had the utter misfortune of being sandwiched between Tom and Alex. It wouldn't have been so bad if the two teens had simply went to sleep, but they were kicking him in an attempt to annoy him. He'd just gotten them to stop when his work mobile went off. Groaning, he leaned up on one elbow and reached over both Alex and Jack to where it laid on the coffee table. Checking the screen, he answered.

"Eagle," he answered sharply.

"Uh, what's going on over there?" Fox asked a little apprehensively.

"What?"

"I just got the weirdest voice mail from Cub," the soldier replied.

Either Alex had heard the reply through the speaker or he was psychic, because he tried to scramble up. However, Andy caught him and leaned his weight on him, pinning the teen to the floor with a knee to the back.

"Oh really?" he asked in a mock brightness. "And what did he say?"

He should have known they weren't using the phone so Tom could call his mother.

"Something about a con man Father Christmas and a dead wise man. He also said that you got all parental about something Tom did. What the hell is he talking about?"

"Nothing," Andy replied, perhaps a little too fast. "Just the usual insanity. You know how they are."

"Yeah, whatever," the other soldier replied, not sounding convinced but not really wanting to know what was going on either. "Bye."

"Bye."

He snapped the mobile shut and tossed it back onto the table before landing a soft punch to Alex's side. That was when both boys lost their battle to remain calm and burst out laughing.

Andy continued, "I'm never travelling with you two again. This has been a disaster."

"Oh, c'mon, Eagle," Tom started.

"Yeah, babe," Jack finally spoke up. "It could've been worse."

"How?" he asked, still pinning the blond spy and not about to move. "Your parents hate me, I just got punked by these two, and we're involved in a murder case that I told them to let go before we even realized it was a murder case. How could this possibly be any worse?"

"It could be the Easter Bunny incident of '97," Jack said, sounding like she was trying to comfort him but also trying not to laugh.

"Okay, seriously, what is this Easter Bunny incident?" he asked, annoyed.

"You don't want to know," Tom, Alex, and Jack all said at the same time.

He considered pressing the issue, but then decided that if even _Tom_ said he wouldn't want to know, he really wouldn't want to know. God, he wanted to go home. For some reason, all three seemed a lot less crazy when they were in London. Or maybe the extra insanity was just because it was Christmas. Either way, this was, by far, the least relaxing holiday of his life. He blamed Cub.


	11. The Storm

During the biggest snowstorm of the decade, London's resources were stretched to the max. The plow trucks couldn't keep up with the buildup of snow and ice as the blizzard raged on for the third day in a row. The city had practically shut down some thirty-six hours prior and everyone was holed up in their homes praying that the power didn't cut out and that the supplies they did have, would last.

The storm wiped out any plans for New Years Eve parties. The roads were too dangerous to drive on and the air was too frigid to even consider walking anywhere. Alex was hard pressed to even venture into the garage to where the trash cans were overflowing. It had been a full week since the trash truck had been by. The storm had halted everything. Even the mail.

It began a day before New Year's Eve and Jack had been in her room staring at the clothes in her closet when the first flakes had begun to fall. They had been invited to a party by Wolf's sister- a pleasant surprise- but the dress code was black tie and Jack was fretting. She wasn't a fancy kind of girl. She didn't know what she'd do. Somewhat fortunately, it had been canceled that next morning when the news reported a foot of snow on the ground and more to come.

Tom had spent the night and had no inclination to try to go home in this weather, something his mother agreed with. She didn't want him braving the conditions. K-Unit, on the other hand, did brave the conditions to get to the Rider home in Chelsea. Jack had been shocked that they could be so stupid until she'd heard them explain. Wolf's power was out, Snake didn't have any food, and Fox didn't have nearly enough room in his small flat to hold them all. The three had cleaned out their fridges and stopped by the store on their way over. They were set.

So the seven of them had piled into the living room to watch movies, play video games, and make fun of old sitcoms. They stayed up until way past midnight, ate, joked around, and just had fun. Things were looking good and the New Year had started off better than to be expected.

But then the power went out.

* * *

Alex was playing a video game with Tom the next morning on Tom's new Wii. The teen had yet to come up with a name for it, but he was considering several. They had been boxing for at least a half hour when the TV screen turned black. The lights clicked off and the living room was cast into a grayish half light. Alex also heard the heat shut off. The power was out.

"The hell-" Eagle muttered from his spot on the couch. He had been reading the paper.

"The power went out," Tom noted. "I was just about to beat Alex too."

"You were not," Alex defended.

"I so was, superhero," Tom replied. He refused to admit that it would have only happened because Alex was prepared to let him win, something that was somewhat nice and completely annoying. Alex rolled his eyes at him.

The argument probably would have continued had Wolf not entered the room in all his scowling glory.

"Do you have a generator?" he asked the blond teen who shook his head.

"No, we've never had a need for one," he replied. They heard Jack come thundering down the stairs.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed loudly. "What happened to the power?"

"Power lines probably froze and snapped," Snake told her as he came in. Fox followed behind him nibbling on a cookie which Tom promptly stole. "Do you have a generator?" Again, Alex shook his head.

Wolf and Eagle went to stand by the window and looked out at the raging blizzard. The storm wouldn't have been nearly as bad if it hadn't been for the intense wind which drove the snow across the land in a way that reminded Alex of the Arctic. It eliminated all visibility and drove the temperature down even further than it already was.

"Turn on the radio," Snake said and Tom obliged.

"…_force winds that have knocked out the power to several sectors of the city. Power companies are working to restore power to the areas that have lost it but progress is slow due to the conditions. The city is urging people to stay at home and try not to brave the storm. If you have lost power dress as warm as possible and use any tools you can. The power is expected to be restored within a few hours._"

"Great," Wolf growled over the announcer. "Well, you heard the guy. We need blankets, lanterns, the works. And for the love of God, Harris put some clothes on." Tom looked down at his nightclothes which consisted of basketball shorts. The teen had no shirt and no socks but then he'd hardly expected to need them. The house had been warm and Tom didn't get cold easily.

They all scattered off to obey Wolf, who had entered team leader mode unconsciously. Jack and Eagle went to pull blankets out of the linen closet, the rest of K-Unit went into the garage to see what they could find, Tom went to borrow warmer clothes from Alex's room, and Alex went to pee. They met back in the living room ten minutes later, their various tasks completed.

They sat down and started to talk. K-Unit and Alex discussed the best course of action should the power not be restored by the end of the night. Tom and Jack listened but didn't contribute. Both had grown up in the city and neither had taken any kind of wilderness survival course. Tom hadn't even been camping as he had gotten kicked of Boy Scouts before that trip had occurred. Jack had been camping once back in America, had been nearly bitten to death by mosquitoes, and promptly refused to ever go again.

"For now we'll just do what the announcer says and wait," Wolf finally said, concluding the discussion. Alex was actually a little relieved. The predictions of freezing to death had been a little over the top in his opinion.

* * *

However, the power didn't come back on in a few hours. It wasn't even back on by the next morning. They'd all slept on the floor of the living room in order to share body heat as it had cooled off rapidly inside the house.

Tom had happily sandwiched himself in-between Snake and Fox thoroughly more concerned with freezing than his pride. It also helped when you weren't bothered by awkwardness. Snake however was a bit put out when Tom kept stealing the covers. The soldier had eventually just elbowed the boy into letting go.

"Ow!" the teen exclaimed as he woke up. "That's going to bruise."

"Tough," Snake hissed back both in anger and in consideration of his sleeping friends. Tom just rolled over in teenage indignation and fell back asleep.

By the time breakfast came about-cooked on a Coleman grill that ran on batteries-the house was freezing. Not nearly as cold as outside but hardly comfortable.

"We really need to get better insulation," Eagle said as he shivered. Jack nodded miserably. He was leaning up against the couch and she was leaning against him. They were sharing a thick wool blanket but it was just too cold.

"This has got to be the worst holiday ever," Tom mumbled through chattering teeth.

"It could be worse," Fox replied and nobody had the heart to ask him what he meant. Knowing K-Unit, they'd probably spent a holiday being shot at. "Besides, at least we aren't out of food." Alex just kicked him in response.

"What the hell Cub?" he snapped, glaring at the blond teen.

"Shut up," was Alex's only reply. "Either way this is a bad situation. We can't just stay here. If the power lines are frozen they aren't just going to be able to fix it overnight. They'll have to wait for warmer weather or the cables will never be able to function right."

"Since when did you become an expert on power cables?" Eagle asked trying, with all his might, not to snap at the kid seeing as Jack was in the room.

"Since common sense hit me over the head," the boy snapped not having the same problem as Eagle in terms of Jack.

"He has a point," Snake said quietly before they could disintegrate into bickering. "If the power lines snapped because of the weather they aren't going to be able to do anything until it changes. So either we find a better way of staying warm until this storm blows over or we get out of here."

"Where would we go?" Wolf asked.

"The comic book store," Tom piped up. Wolf raised his eyes to the ceiling as if praying for patience and sighed in frustration.

"Harris could you please be serious for at least ten minutes?" he snapped.

"I am being serious!" Tom exclaimed looking as if he'd been insulted. "If you would listen to me, you'd know that!" Wolf's eyebrow lifted in silent challenge and Tom pressed on before they could cut him off. "The comic book store two blocks over has a generator. The owner lives above the store and I know him. If we bring what food we have he'll let us stay until the storm blows over."

When Wolf could not immediately poke a hole in his location choice, Tom stuck his tongue out at him. Wolf glared at him but Tom had long become accustomed to the man and was unaffected.

* * *

They made it to the comic store a lot quicker than they'd anticipated. Tom was thankful for that as he was almost positive some sort of body part had frozen off during the trek. He was so cold he couldn't feel anything other than his torso which was scarier than one would think.

He and Jack were the only two to really show any discomfort as they were the only non soldiers in the group. They hadn't signed up for something like this and so were inclined to complain for as long as Wolf's patience lasted.

"I can't feel my toes," Jack said.

"I can't feel my feet," Tom retorted. And that was all the opening they needed to start naming body parts they could no longer feel, trying to outdo the other.

"I can't feel my thighs," Jack said.

"I can't feel my entire face."

"I can't feel my boobs."

"I can't feel my balls."

"Tie?"

"Tie."

"There it is!" Alex exclaimed and Tom whipped his head towards the dim light that was coming through the windblown snow.

"Thank god," Eagle said. "I have to pee so bad."

"Why didn't you go at the house?" Jack asked a scowl on her face.

"Didn't have to go then," Eagle replied grinning.

"Does anyone else think that we might be getting a little too comfortable with each other?" Snake asked as Wolf opened the door to the warm store and led them inside. There were others inside as well, all looking for the heat and comfort their own homes had lost.

Jack gave the owner the food they'd brought and they all settled in for the night. They ended up sleeping between two rows of comics which Tom happily perused.

* * *

It had been the worst storm in a decade with the terrible winds snapping power lines and throwing the city into survival mode. Those who had taken refuge in the comic book store were there for only one more day before the storm stopped suddenly in the night.

In the time spent in cramped quarters, K-Unit discovered that Tom Harris was not well suited to being cooped up indoors. He'd quickly gotten bored with the superheroes and had moved on to annoying them all to the point of violence. Wolf, predictably the first to snap, had grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt and tossed him out of the store and face first into the snow. The boy had spent the rest of that night sulking and glaring.

Alex never did bother trying to keep Tom entertained and out of trouble. He was too wrapped up in his plans on what to do with all the snow and whose shirt he was going to stuff it down first.


	12. A New Kind of Trouble

New chappie! Just so you guys know, this one is kind of sad but I thought it was time to explain a little more about why Tom is the way that he is. I'm also aware that it is summer so it's a little off to read about snow storms but bear with me. Hope you guys enjoy.

* * *

Tom Harris was a boy few would ever truly understand. He was a mystery in a sense. He would never be the enigma that was Alex Rider but he was still a riddle, a puzzle waiting to be solved. It wasn't because he had saved the world. It wasn't because he knew big government secrets. No, it was something else entirely that made him who he was. Something that was much too common but terrible all the same.

He was a good friend to those lucky enough to call him friend. He was a good student, good athlete, and all around good kid. But he was so much more than that and Tom could count with one hand the number of people who truly understood him. He liked to run around in the rain. He had a soft spot for stray animals and green eyes. He had a phobia of E.T. Tom was many things and he knew many things as well.

Most importantly, Tom knew life. He may have never seen the horror that Alex had but he knew it existed and therefore, understood it on at least some level. He knew that the haunted look in a person's eyes could be from many things but that it was always connected with some sort of pain. He knew people pitied pain and sought to wipe it out.

And that was why he forcibly removed that haunted look from his own eyes. He buried his own pain and concentrated on something else, like the cute girl in Chemistry class or the upcoming movie. Of course, his pain would never be like the pain Alex felt. Alex felt physical pain, and while that did leave a mark-seen and unseen-it was not the soul deep pain that Tom carried.

For Tom knew life. He knew that sometimes parents weren't all they were cracked up to be. He knew what it was like to watch a family member die and then to bury them in every sense of the term. And he knew love and hate in all its passion.

Tom had seen many a good thing die before his eyes. But he had seen good things rise from the ashes as well. And it was that, if nothing else, that drove him to call Wolf the night he left home for the first time with little intention of going back if the status quo remained.

* * *

When Wolf had received a call on his work mobile at two-thirty in the morning he had expected to be ordered onto a plane by the end of the hour. He was irritated beyond all measure to recognize the voice on the end as belonging to Harris, Cub's little odd ball friend.

Wolf could admit-though only to himself-that he didn't think the kid was all that bad. Somewhere along the insanity filled way he'd even grown to tolerate the irritating child. But that didn't mean that Wolf would ever be prepared for the amount of chaos Harris was about to cause; no matter how much it wasn't the boy's fault.

He'd been prepared to snap that he wasn't about to post bail for the kid when he'd heard a somewhat strangled sob come over the line. He was sitting up in bed, fully awake the next instant.

"Harris where are you?" he asked sharply, his voice demanding an honest answer.

"Near Brookland," the boy replied. "Wolf, can you come pick me up? It's cold."

"Why aren't you at home?"

"Can you please come pick me up?" Tom repeated.

"What happened Tom? Are you in danger?" Wolf asked as he tried to get his pants on with one hand. His mind was running rampant with thoughts of Scorpia and hostage situations.

"No, there's no danger," the boy replied tensely.

"Then what happened?" he asked. Something didn't sound right. If Harris wasn't really in any danger then why call Wolf? He'd be much better off calling Cub or even Jack.

"Nothin'" the boy mumbled. "It's really cold."

"Alright, hang tight," Wolf replied grabbing his gun just case the boy was lying for whatever reason. "Meet me in the parking lot."

The soldier quickly finished dressing, grabbed his car keys, and left the flat.

Wolf had barely stopped his car before the passenger door opened and Tom slid into the seat. The street light illuminated the kid's face and Wolf saw a split lip. The boy was holding his arm in a way that made the soldier think something was very wrong. The kid was in a thin hoodie and sweatpants, which wasn't nearly enough to fight off the cold. He was shivering terribly.

"Jesus, Harris," Wolf hissed. "Did you get in a fight?" Tom just nodded and reached over to crank the heat all the way up. "With who?"

"Nobody," the boy said and Wolf heard something strange in the tone. The entire situation was just screaming WRONG at him. "Thanks for coming."

"No problem," the soldier replied off handedly. Normally it would have been a big problem and if things hadn't seemed so off he would have been yelling at the kid by now. "What's wrong with your arm?"

"I don't know," Tom said and Wolf could tell the boy was in pain. He was near tears. "I think it's broken."

"Shit," Wolf hissed and put the car back into drive. He pulled out of the parking lot and made his way back to the main road.

"Where are we going?" the kid asked. Wolf contemplated ignoring the question just to show how irritated he was but he figured it might only make the situation worse. This was Harris after all.

"The hospital."

"Do we have to?" the boy asked and Wolf gave him an incredulous look.

"Harris, if that arm really is broken, it needs to be checked out," he said. "Besides, you look close to hypothermia. What the hell are you doing out in this cold in the middle of the night? And what the hell happened to you?" He very nearly shouted the last part of that sentence.

Tom didn't answer him. He just stared at him as if that would deter Wolf's temper and make him leave it alone. Whatever had happened, Harris clearly had come off worse and the soldier wanted to know just what kind of trouble the kid was in now.

But Tom just shook his head. "It was nothing." Wolf let out a very sarcastic laugh.

"Ha! This is hardly nothing," he snapped. "Dammint Harris!" He hadn't meant to be short with the boy, really, he hadn't. He was just frustrated. There was really no end to the frustration with this kid.

"Sorry," the kid mumbled which halted Wolf's sleep deprived temper in its tracks. Harris had never before apologized for anything. The boy liked to say that K-Unit deserved whatever stress the two friends gave them. Tom liked to joke and make weird statements. He had a tendency to point out the obvious even if it was plain rude to do so. Sometimes he seemed a little crazy but in a quirky kind of way. All of this, he did with a confidence that Wolf would have called arrogance on any other teenager. So for this boy to say 'sorry' for anything was a red flag.

And it was that one word that truly tipped Wolf off to the fact that something was wrong. Whatever Harris had been doing that had left him cold, wet, and with a broken arm and busted lip, it wasn't right. Something very bad was going on.

"Harris," Wolf said his voice much softer than before. "What happened? Why aren't you at home?" For just a moment, the boy couldn't hide what he was feeling. He looked lost and a little heartbroken. He shook his head and turned away from Wolf to stare out the window for the rest of the ride to the hospital.

When Wolf was allowed to see Harris he wasn't sure he wanted to. He had no idea where to go from here. He felt like he should call someone, anyone, to come down and help him deal with whatever had rocked Harris so thoroughly. He wasn't sure if he could deal with it on his own.

He had seen the kid being told that his best friend was possibly going to die and not even bat an eye. The boy had been through hostage situations, red alerts, and a number of other things any civilian, let alone a child, would have difficulty dealing with. But Harris would take it as it came. Sure he complained, long and loud, but Wolf had never really thought he meant most of it. Harris seemed content with simply knowing what was going on.

The kid was a rock, especially to Cub. He was the teenaged spy's only true friend and Wolf understood the reason for that. He also knew why Cub had chosen to let Tom get that close, not only to himself but to his secrets. Harris was a boy who could handle anything because he cared about nothing. Wolf would bet money that there were really only two people Harris loved or even liked. And it was those two people Wolf felt he should call.

But he didn't. For some reason Harris had called him and he doubted it was because he couldn't get a hold of anyone else. He didn't know what game Harris may be playing or what had happened but he knew it probably wouldn't end well.

After five minutes of internal debate and contemplation Wolf finally made his way back to where Harris was in the Emergency Room. He walked around the privacy curtain to find him with a cast on his arm and a thick wool blanket around his shoulders.

"The nurse said you wouldn't give them your address or phone number," he said by way of greeting. "She seems to think that I can coax it out of you." Tom looked up at him. The usual spark to his eye was a little dulled and he looked bone tired. Wolf felt inexplicitly saddened. This was not the Harris he knew and it certainly wasn't one he thought could even exist.

Wolf took a seat on the side of the hospital bed by the kid who turned his stare to his dangling feet.

"What happened Harris?" he asked for what felt like the millionth time. The kid swallowed hard past whatever lump was suddenly lodged in his throat.

"What's it matter?" he snapped. "It's not like anything is even going to change."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wolf asked. Harris simply snorted and shook his head. Wolf had a sneaking suspicion that he hadn't really wanted to consider before now. However, the explanation that came to his mind was the one that fit the situation the best and if it was true, he needed to know. "Kid, are you afraid to go home?"

"You're so astute Wolf," the boy replied. Wolf was a little surprised he would just come out and admit it. "Honestly, I thought you would have figured it out earlier."

"Why are you afraid?" the soldier asked. "Don't want to be grounded for taking off in the middle of the night?" The man didn't really think that but he was so out of depth and the rough, somewhat mean approach was comfortable. Besides, Harris probably knew exactly what he was doing.

"Yeah that's me," Harris said with a small, humorless laugh. "Dead terrified of punishment. After all, it's not like I'm crazy or anything." Wolf couldn't help but smile, just a little.

"Is it broken?" he asked nodding towards the white cast. Tom nodded.

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad though," he said. "And they gave me this really great pain medication. I don't know what it was called but it's awesome." Well, it was comforting to know the kid was starting to come back to himself.

"Harris, I need to know what happened," he said. "Why were you not at home?" The boy sighed but spoke.

"My mum has a boyfriend," he said steadfastly refusing to make eye contact with the soldier next to him. Wolf had a terrible feeling he knew where this was going. "He's kind of like all the others she's dated since Dad left. He came back tonight a little drunk."

"And?" Wolf coaxed when the kid hesitated.

"He just went off on me. I was downstairs watching a movie on the couch and he just started shouting at me. He grabbed my arm and I kicked him to get him to let go. It only made him angrier and he punched me. Knocked me right off my feet and I hit my arm on the way down. That's when I took off."

"Where's your dad Harris?" Wolf asked more than a little angry at this unnamed boyfriend. He wasn't even sure if he liked Harris but to punch the kid for no reason was just plain wrong. Wolf wondered how long this type of thing had been going on. He knew enough from his own childhood to know that some women always tended to land the losers. It sounded as if Harris's mother might be one of those women.

"Oh, he's at his perfect house with his perfect new wife and perfect little baby," Harris snapped not even trying to hide his contempt. Whether it was at the man or the entire the situation was left to be determined.

"Has this happened before?" he asked and Harris nodded. "How long?"

"Um, I think she started dating him a few weeks before I met you guys," he said. "That's why I spend so much time at Alex's house." Wolf nodded in understanding. Some of the kid's crazy behavior was starting to make sense now. He was messed up.

"So, what do you plan on doing now?" Wolf asked.

"What do you mean?" he kid asked his brow crinkling in confusion.

"Harris you called me in the middle of the night to come pick you up after your mother's boyfriend beat you up," Wolf growled. "Do you really think I'm going to just let something like that go?"

"He didn't beat me up," Tom protested. "He got in one punch and the arm was an accident."

"Doesn't matter," Wolf replied steadfastly. "He easily could have beaten you up and you know it. That's why you're afraid to go home. If you were just pissed you'd already be plotting revenge."

"What makes you think I'm not getting my revenge?" Tom asked, with just a hint of conspiracy to his voice.

"What do you mean?" Wolf asked, reluctant to know what the kid may be planning. Tom leaned towards him as if he was going to tell him an important secret and dropped his voice.

"I'm sorry I scared you Mum," the boy said, laying on an utterly devastated tone thickly. "But he hit me and I got scared. Yes, Mum, I did thank the nice stranger who picked me up and brought me to the hospital. No, Mum, he didn't leave any information. Yes Mum, I know exactly how you can make it up to me."

Wolf stared at the kid, completely dumbfounded. Had he seriously just been used in some plot? It probably wouldn't be the first time but that still didn't negate the situation. The boy had had every intention of returning home, armed with a busted lip and a social worker. And to what? Make sure he never had another curfew? Tom smirked at him.

"Oh come on, Wolf," he said, his voice still low. "Did you honestly expect anything less from me? I plan on making the most of this pathetic situation. Why not make it fun?"

"What the hell are you trying to pull Harris?" Wolf hissed. "Blackmailing your own mother?"

"Please Wolf," Tom hissed right back. "Don't act so high and mighty. That man is the biggest loser I've ever seen. He deserves everything he's going to get for how he's treated my family. I'm no victim." The conviction in his tone sent shivers down Wolf's spine. Wolf didn't have any doubt that the kid could be vicious when he needed to be but this was so unexpected that even he was a bit thrown. When they trained you on handling unexpected situations they never mentioned being used as a pawn in some domestic brawl.

He didn't know if he should go along with it, actively help the kid, or put a stop to it. He couldn't, in good conscious, leave Harris in a violent situation. But he also couldn't help the boy scam the system, no matter how justified it really was.

He was kicking himself for not being more on guard the second he'd recognized Harris's voice on the phone. He knew how much of a manipulator the kid was, he should have known that something was going on. Something that was very different than what Harris was showing him. Given the chance, this kid could become the best con man the world would ever see.

When Wolf didn't respond, Tom reached into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to Wolf who opened it. It was a receipt from a restaurant; the very restaurant Wolf had been at for lunch earlier that day. On the back was an address and a phone number.

"Give that to the nurse," Tom told him. "Then leave and don't come back."

"What makes you think I'm going to go along with this?" Wolf snapped, not about to just give in to a demand from a teenager.

"Because Wolf," Tom replied, a smirk playing on his lips. "If you don't, this will just drag out. My goal is to get that arsehole out of my house, not get thrown into the foster care system. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

It was a well played move. Wolf had no desire to see Harris end up in any system. He stood up and flung aside the privacy curtain as he went in search of the nurse. He handed the paper and took his leave. He didn't leave a name.

* * *

Wolf never told anyone of what happened that night. He wasn't about to admit that he'd been played so easily. Also, he doubted Harris would want his situation broadcasted to anyone, much less the Unit. When he saw the boy next, it was at a dinner at the Rider house a mere week later.

"What happened to you Harris?" Snake asked as he spotted the boy on the couch watching a movie with Cub. His busted lip had healed almost completely but the arm still had a ways to go. Harris smiled brightly, a spark to his eye, and an excitement radiating from him that meant he had a good story to tell.

"A skateboarding accident," he replied. "I almost cleared the stupid bench but the landing wasn't very good. Broke my arm on the cement." And while the others laughed and poked fun, Tom gave the soldier a meaningful look. Wolf gave a small nod and the boy never brought it up again.

But the niggling in Wolf's gut wouldn't leave the entire night. It wasn't the fact that he'd helped put an end to a possibly volatile situation that bothered him so deeply. It was more of the fact that Harris's first reaction had been manipulation. He hadn't tried to cover anything up; he hadn't run to someone for help. The only reason the kid had called him was to use him as a tool and it wasn't sitting well with Wolf. It wasn't normal, it wasn't right.

But what in this group of people was normal? Most of them dealt with terrorism, assassinations, and war on a daily basis. What was so different about Harris, except he was technically a civilian? Clearly Harris had been through more in his life than any of them knew. Besides, what was one more secret to the parcel of them they already had? What was one more lie for the greater good? Wasn't this what he wanted? To make a difference in this world, to make it just a little better, no matter what the method.

So Wolf silenced his warning bells and shoved away that annoying niggling feeling and resolved to think of Harris as more than just some kid who didn't know the brutal truth of the world. He resolved to think of him as he did of Cub. Another screwed up kid in a screwed up situation. But unlike Cub, this one embraced every minute of it. This kid knew about life much better than Wolf thought he had. And that made all the difference.


	13. The Easter Bunny Incident

Tom knew he may have crossed a line in using Wolf that night. He hadn't really cared at the time but as the weeks dragged on he began to regret that moment in the hospital; the moment that he'd pinned Wolf down and forced the soldier to do what he wanted. The boy normally wouldn't have spared a thought to the man's feelings about how he was being used. Tom had used him various times before, even if those had only been for some harmless fun. And he knew that Wolf had been using him as well in order to get information about Alex. Those instances hadn't been nearly as blatant as what he'd done but he knew it when he saw it.

Despite the reasoning he'd used in order to make himself feel better for using Wolf's own good nature and sense of responsibility against him, Tom couldn't justify his actions enough to be honest with anyone else about what had happened. He knew that Alex, while supporting the outcome wholeheartedly, would gave him that _look_ for the means he'd used. Tom hated that look. The one that said he'd gone a little too far across the proverbial line. Tom was very familiar with that unseen line. He did a constant dance with it, always trying to push it a little further out. He couldn't help it. One side of the line was boring and the other side was fun. Unfortunately, it was the fun side that nobody wanted him to be on. Wolf included.

Tom was grateful that Wolf never told anyone about that night. He hadn't made the man promise or anything and certainly didn't have anything on him to keep the man silent. He figured Wolf did it because it was embarrassing. For the both of them. Tom had faced down red alerts, kidnappers, bank robbers, and Brecon Beacons. His best friend had faced down much worse and together the two were the best of teams. And yet, Tom had been unable to defend himself from some punk. He'd been forced to call Wolf in the middle of the night, crying, cold, and in pain because he couldn't keep it together. Only Alex had ever seen him at such a low.

Wolf, on the other hand, had been tricked by a kid into doing something that went against his moral standings. It wasn't the first time he'd been tricked and it probably wouldn't be the last, but it was the worst occurrence. The man felt guilty for hiding that type of secret from everyone, and completely unsure on how to proceed. So his first reaction was to distance himself from the boy. To keep the kid-and his problems-at arm's length. The kid caught onto the tactic quickly and the two of them had descended into a stony impasse.

Wolf wouldn't look Tom in the eye and he hung around Alex less as well in his attempt to avoid the boy. Tom hated it. True, the two of them had never been extremely close but Tom had held a respect for Wolf that he didn't hold for others. He had liked the soldier. And now that the man was turning cold to him, he turned cold back.

In the end, it was Tom who broke first. He knew he had to fix it before Alex caught on and started poking around. Tom needed things to go back to normal. And all he needed for that to happen, was a little luck.

* * *

Wolf was on a date when he felt his mobile buzz in his pocket. He excused himself quickly and stepped out of the small cafe before he answered. It was the Sergeant. They were being called to the Royal and General. Wolf thought it odd. He'd only ever been called into MI6 once before and that was when he'd been sent in to find Cub at Point Blanc.

It took only a minute to tell the poor girl that he had to leave, there was an emergency, and he was sorry. She didn't seem bitter about it but Wolf knew that if it happened on the next date he'd probably never see her again. He was in his car and on the road before she could even fully process that the date was over. It only took him ten minutes to reach the bank and he wasn't surprised to see three other familiar cars parked in the underground parking garage. Though he was a little amused that Eagle had decided to drive Jack's Mini. Wolf had always thought it a rather girly car.

When he arrived at Jones's office it was to a decidedly tense crowd of people. He took a seat next to Snake and waited expectedly. Jones took the time to unwrap another peppermint before popping it in her mouth.

"Well, gentlemen," she said. "We have another situation concerning Mr. Rider and his little...hooligan."

Wolf was a little surprised that Jones would even admit she thought of Harris that way. She wasn't the type to show any sort of opinion while on the job. He found himself trying to hide a smirk at her choice of description.

"What have they done now, ma'am?" Eagle asked tightly, knowing he'd have to deal with it both as a member of K-Unit and as a member of the Rider household.

"They have managed to explode Spire Enterprises newest pet project, the Spire Tower," she replied just as tightly. Wolf winced. Spire Tower was set to become one of London's many prized possessions. Wolf heard that it was set to be the tallest tower in the world at 2000 feet, surpassing America's planned Freedom Tower by several hundred feet. The thing was only just starting to be built. And what did the two boys have against Spire Enterprises anyway?

"Why would they do that?" Snake asked.

"We are not sure," she replied. "We have yet to locate the boys but we were in brief contact with them about two hours ago. Unfortunately, we aren't sure as to what message they were trying to give us."

"They gave you a coded message?" Wolf asked. If that was the case why not just run it through the decoder? It wasn't like K-Unit knew anything about how it worked. It was the most convoluted thing Wolf had ever seen.

"No," she said.

"Then what did they say?" Fox asked when she paused looking about as uncomfortable as an MI6 agent ever got.

"What is the Easter Bunny Incident of '97 and why is it important to national security?" she asked with all seriousness. Wolf had no idea what to say something like that. No wonder the woman looked a bit uncomfortable. Anybody else would be blushing after asking something that sounded so stupid.

"What?" he asked, confused. He had never even heard of this 'Incident'. He looked at Eagle to see if he had. After all, the man was living in the Rider home now, and thus was around this crap more often than any of them. Wolf took it as a confirmation that he had heard of this Incident thing by the way the other man suddenly wouldn't look anyone in the eye.

"Eagle?" Wolf probed, his tone forcing his teammate to meet his eyes. "What is the Incident?" He refused to sound ridiculous by saying the entire name.

"I don't know anything about it," he said. "Jack mentioned it once but even Tom said that I wouldn't want to know." Wolf felt his eyebrows shoot up. Tom _never_ missed a chance to tell everyone about his escapades.

"So Jack knows what it is?" Fox asked him.

"Yeah, she knows what it is."

"You must locate her quickly," Jones said suddenly, her tone snappish and back to business. "Whatever these two are now into it is extremely dangerous. Secure her, get the information, and report back."

They were out of the door before she finished her sentence.

* * *

"Jack!" Eagle called out. "Jack are you here?"

"I don't think she's here," Fox said coming back from the kitchen. "Try calling her mobile."  
Eagle pulled it out of his pocket and dialed quickly. The woman picked up on the fourth ring and Eagle had to rip it away from his ear at the amount of screaming that came over the line. Wolf grabbed the man's wrist to bring the device closer to him and pressed the speaker button.

"Tom!" Jack screamed apparently forgetting that she had answered her mobile. "Look out!"

"Ah!" Wolf recognized that as being Alex. Funny, he'd never heard the boy scream before. K-Unit was rooted to the spot and struck dumb. None of them had the presence of mind to actually try to get Jack's attention over the line.

"Red light! Red light! Red light!"Jack screamed. "Truck!"

"I see it!" Tom screamed. Wolf had the terrible feeling that Tom was driving and not very well either. "Alex! Shoot them!"

"I can't! It's out!"

"Do something!"

"Why do I always have to come up with the damn plans?"

They heard a few more screams and what sounded like explosions.

"Tom! Bridge!"

"I see it!"

They heard a crash, thuds, and screeching. It sounded terrible and Wolf felt a rock form in the bottom of his stomach.

"Jack!" Eagle shouted into the speaker, trying to get the woman's attention. It worked now that there was silence on the other end of the line.

"Andy! Oh my god!" Jack exclaimed. She sounded out of breath and scared.

"What happened? Where are you?" Eagle demanded.

"Near Spire Corp., look for the smoke," she said and K-Unit immediately leapt into action heading to the car. Eagle kept Jack on the line for the duration of the short ride.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"Oh my God," she breathed. "Never let me get in a car with Tom again."

"Hey!" they heard the boy exclaim. "I did just fine all things considered."

"That was not fine!" Jack half snapped, half screamed. "How do you miss a bridge?"

"It's not my fault the van spun out of control! They shot the tire out!" Tom responded. Wolf had never seen these two fight before. In fact Jack was the only person Tom had never even challenged, authority wise.

"Jack!" Eagle snapped into the speaker, his soldier tone coming out in his frustration in keeping the woman focused. "Tell me what happened."

"The boys came home and said I had to get in the van. They said I was in danger," she said.

"From who?" Eagle asked. Jack didn't answer him though. They heard some rustling and some mumbling. Soon another voice came on the line.

"Eagle?" It was Alex.

"Cub," the soldier said tightly. "What the hell is going on?"

"We're being chased by terrorists," the boy replied sharply and calmly in that way only he could. "We're safe for the moment but we could use your back up."

"How did you get in this mess?" Eagle asked.

"I'll explain it better later," the boy replied. They took that to mean that it was probably classified information and that the boy could or would only talk to them face to face in a secure location. It took them only another half minute to reach the sight of the car crash. Eagle hung up on catching sight of the two kids and his girlfriend. He barely waited for the car to come to a stop before he was up and out. Jack went to him instantly and he drew her into him, holding her tightly. The rest of K-Unit approached the two boys.

The street was littered with debris. The road had been undergoing construction and was closed off the public. Wolf saw a utility van sitting on the bank of the small creek that ran through the generally nice looking business complex. It had clearly been trying to turn sharply only to run over the side. The back door of the van was opened and Wolf could see harnesses hanging from the roof that would normally hold large canisters.

Wolf looked back up the street, the way they'd come. There was small fires burning at random intervals along the road but the soldier didn't see anything specific that could have caused them. There was also a car which had collided hard with a bulldozer. The front end was completely ruined and Wolf could see two men inside, not moving. He moved to the car quickly, gun drawn and aimed. He opened the door on the driver's side and moved the air bag aside so he could feel along the man's neck for a pulse. Snake copied his movements on the passenger side.

"Anything?" Snake asked.

"No, he's dead," Wolf replied, withdrawing from the car.

"This one too."

The two went closer to where Fox was standing with the two teens.

"What started these fires?" Wolf asked.

"Ether," Tom said. Wolf stared at him, a little surprised. Ether was what they used to cut cocaine and it was highly flammable. What were they doing with it?

"Was that what was in that van?" Fox asked, pointing to the wrecked vehicle on the bank. The teens nodded. "Who was driving?"

"I was," Tom said.

"This isn't the place for a debriefing," Snake cut in as Wolf opened his mouth to demand the full story. "We should get them to the bank for that." Wolf nodded tensely and motioned for the two teens to get into the SUV. Eagle and Jack were already inside, in the far back. She was trembling slightly from fear and adrenaline but seemed to be keeping it together okay. She grabbed Alex's hand the second he sat down next to her and refused to let go.

Tom and Wolf ended up sitting in the middle seat next to each other. It was awkward to say the least. The boy would shoot him glances every now and then as if he expected Wolf to say something to him, anything. Normally, Wolf would already be berating the kid for whatever insanity he may have cooked up but he wasn't quite willing to forget the hospital right then. The boy had a lot to answer for concerning that night. Wolf could tell something was off with the kid after seeing that small glimpse into his life.

Whatever his issues with the boy he couldn't let it get to him. He was on the job. He figured he could talk to the kid about later. However, even in his own head he knew that probably wasn't true.

At the bank Jack and the two boys were split off from each other into different offices. Fox went with Cub and Snake went with Jack. Eagle wasn't allowed in the debriefing because he was living with two of them. He was ordered back out to Spire Tower to see what he could see. That left Wolf with Harris. The last person he wanted to be with and he was furiously cursing his luck.

He took the boy into an empty office, and directed him to a chair. Taking his place on the other side of the desk he set a recorder between them and turned it on. After going through the typical formalities involved in documenting debriefings he took a long look at the kid.

"Alright Harris," he said. "Start at the beginning." Wolf didn't find it necessary to give him anymore direction than that. This was hardly Harris's first debriefing. But the boy didn't start talking like he normally did. Instead he just gave Wolf a stony look, the same one he'd been giving him for weeks. Wolf didn't appreciate the stall tactic. "_Harris._"

"I have nothing to say to you," the boy said. Wolf sighed and reached over to pause the recording. MI6 really didn't need to know about this part. Wolf knew the kid well enough by now to know that he wasn't going to make anything easy for Wolf until he got what he wanted. The soldier knew he wanted something from him; could tell by the look in his eye. And damn, if Harris wasn't a stubborn one.

"This isn't a game Harris," he snapped. "I need to know what happened." Harris didn't respond. It looked as if he wasn't ever planning to and Wolf knew they could be there forever if he didn't give a little in his own stubbornness. Sighing he proposed a compromise. "Tell you what, if you let me do my job without any more of your bullsiht I'll let you say what you've been wanting to say to me. Sound fair?"

"Fine," the boy conceded after only a moment's hesitation. Wolf unpaused the recording and nodded for him to start talking. "Back in 1997..."

* * *

Nine-year-old Tommy was having a good day. Alex had invited him to come along to the big Easter Egg Hunt at the Mayor's home and he couldn't have been more excited. What little boy wouldn't be excited about running around and looking for hidden candy? Not to mention the Easter Bunny that seemed so nice. He'd given Tommy an extra chocolate that the boy hadn't seen him give to anyone else. It made him feel special.

Tommy was currently looking for Alex. He'd lost his friend at one point but he couldn't remember where. He wasn't too concerned as he could still see Jack and Ian, enjoying some of the food and talking with adults Tommy didn't know nor cared to know. They all looked pretty stuffy and boring to him.

He scanned the crowd as best he could with his short stature looking for Alex. He couldn't seem to find him nor the other kids they had been playing with. He did however, catch sight of the Bunny as he rounded the corner of the greenhouse, just across the lawn. Tommy wondered what he was doing over there. There were no kids over there, he knew that. And there shouldn't be any Easter eggs over there either. It was too far away from where the refreshment tables were set up. Curious, the boy followed.

As he neared the corner of the greenhouse, he heard two people speaking. One of them sounded like the Easter Bunny, but this time voice was serious and mean sounding. Tommy paused just before the corner and poked his head around to look. The Bunny's head was off and Tommy could see a man with a lot of scars talking to another man with a knife tattooed on his face. They scared him a little and Tommy ducked his head back out of sight just in case they looked over. He'd become pretty good at eavesdropping having practiced on his parents' private conversations.

"Is it all set up?" Knife-man asked.

"Yes," Bunny asked. "Playing the Easter Bunny will let me get close enough. All I need to do is seem like I'm hanging out with the kids."

"Just make it quick and clean," Knife-man said. "The sooner that Mayor's dead, the better."

Tommy's eyes widened and he didn't stick around for the rest of the conversation. He had to find Jack! They were going to kill the Mayor! Tommy didn't know why but he knew killing people was wrong and that if he told Jack, she could take care of it.

The boy quickly ran back across the lawn, but in the time that he'd been gone both Ian and Jack had disappeared. He hopped up on a chair, frantically trying to find them in the sea of people, but it was hopeless. Jumping down, he ran through the legs of people trying to find them that way but still he couldn't locate them. Where could they have possibly gone?

The only person Tommy could find was the Easter Bunny, his head now back on. Tommy felt inexplicably angry at the Bunny. The Easter Bunny was supposed to be nice and fluffy and hand out chocolate, not kill people! This _man_ didn't know what took to be a proper Bunny and that made Tommy mad. He was giving Bunnies everywhere a bad name and needed to be stopped.

Tommy's eyes followed him as he watched the imposter move through the crowd. He stopped by a refreshment table with the biggest cake Tommy had ever seen. It was one of those fancy ones that you really weren't supposed to eat because of how much work went into making it. It was large, bigger than him even, and shaped like a comical Bunny with a bunch of Easter eggs at its feet. The boy could see the man looking at one particular group of people and he figured that one of those men was the Mayor.

"Tommy!" The boy quickly turned to see Alex running towards him. "C'mon, all the eggs are over here!"

"Alex, we have to stop the Easter Bunny!" Tommy exclaimed quietly as soon as Alex came to a stop in front of him. The other boy looked at him surprised, and then to where the fake Bunny stood, seemingly doing nothing.

"Why?" he asked and Tommy quickly told him everything that he knew. Alex was just as surprised that someone could be so low as to masquerade as an Easter Bunny in order to hurt someone.

"What should we do?" Alex asked. Tommy eyed the fake Bunny and then the table with the large cake.

"Follow me."

Wasting no time, Tommy quickly ran over and crawled underneath the table cloth moving to where he could see the false Easter Bunny standing, Alex following his every move. Tommy grabbed the tablecloth and began to pull. It was very heavy but between the two of them eventually the cake above started to move. They pulled and pulled at the cloth, and with each pull Tommy felt move a little easier and a little faster. He knew the fake Bunny would still be looking the other way, at the group of people so he didn't expect to be caught.

The cake suddenly fell, it's full twenty-two kilograms crashing into the fake Bunny's left thigh. Tommy heard a shout of pain and a loud bang. The lawn erupted with screams and Tommy saw the fake Bunny fall to the ground, clutching his leg in pain. He was soon surrounded by men in suits and police officers all of whom had guns. Both boys didn't know what to do, and they were frozen to the spot. Soon enough though a police man lifted the tablecloth and smiled at them

"Well, there you two are," he said and reached out a hand to him. "It's alright, you're safe now."

"Did you get the Bunny?" Tommy asked as he took the offered hand and allowed himself to be extracted from his hiding place, Alex crawling out behind him.

"Yes we did," the police man replied. "Thanks to you."

"Good," Tommy replied crossing his arms and scowling. "He was the worst Easter Bunny ever."

"That he was boys, that he was."

* * *

"Anyway," Tom said, ignoring Wolf's narrowed eyes and raised eyebrow at the stunt he'd managed to pull even at nine-years-old. "It turns out that the Mayor was really hard on the drug cartels and gangs. They were trying to kill him so that their businesses wouldn't keep getting wiped out."

"You told Jones that this all ties in with national security," Wolf prodded, unable to find the energy to be truly shocked about this incident. No wonder Jack hadn't wanted anyone to know although it did give some sort of insight into the boy. Wolf had heard about the Save Santa crusade the kid had gone on in New York and with this incident now in the open Wolf was starting to understand something critical. Harris had a pathological need to protect all things childhood. It explained why he had gone so far in trying to save a Santa and why he'd become so angry when he'd found out that the man playing the Easter Bunny was going to hurt someone.

"When he was trying to destroy all the drug dealers," Harris began to explain, "the Mayor stumbled on a major drug cartel. They're real nasty and they don't like people making waves. The fake Bunny was hired by them. He's out of jail too. He was the driver in that car that was chasing us."

"Okay, explain how all of this ties into what happened today," Wolf said. "What does Spire Corp have to do with anything?"

"Spire Corp is a huge importer," Tom said. "They've been in the cartel's pocket for years, helping them smuggle all their drugs in."

"And how do you know that?"

"Alex figured it out," Tom said. "His bosses sent him on a mission to figure out how they were getting the drugs into the country and Alex was able to trace it back to Spire Corp."

Wolf raised his eyebrow at that. They hadn't been told that Cub had been on assignment in the middle of all this but then it really hadn't been pertinent until now.

"And how does all this play into what happened on the street?" Wolf asked.

"The cartel found out that Alex was undercover, though they only suspected him of being a snitch," Tom said. "Alex had to set off some explosives in Spire Tower to get away and he stole the van without realizing what was in the back. They were going to kidnap me in order to force him to give them all the evidence he had on them so Alex came to find me. He found me at the park with a couple of our friends and we left just as those two men in the car started chasing us. I recognized the fake Bunny and he called his boss to let them know what was going on but he didn't get very far."

"And Jack?"

"We knew it was only a matter of time before they went looking for her like they had me," Tom said. "Alex was able to lose the fake Bunny and we went straight for Jack. Alex had just gotten her out of the house when they came around on the corner, and I had to jump in the driver's seat and get the van started and ready to go. I did the best I could to lose them but I'm not that good of a driver. They shot at us and Alex shot back. When he ran out of ammo he started throwing that ether out. Some of it exploded and some of it didn't. Then they shot out the tire on the van and that was when we crashed. Then you guys showed up."

"So this entire thing is pretty much one giant coincidence?" Wolf asked, incredulous. How did these kids get into these things? His teenage years hadn't been nearly this exciting. It wasn't just because Alex was a spy either. Harris had been getting into these types of things and causing chaos at nine-years-old! It was ridiculous!

"I guess you could say that, yeah," Harris responded. Wolf shook his head and turned off the recorder. MI6 had all they were going to get from this kid. Cub would likely a give a much better account of all the details. As far as Harris went, the interview was over.

"Alright kid," Wolf said. "You held up your end. What do you have to say to me?"

But Harris didn't say anything. He didn't seem to be contemplating what he wanted to say either. In fact, he seemed content in just letting Wolf guess at his thoughts. A dangerous task in the best of times. Wolf sighed at the stubbornness and shook his head again.

"Harris," he hedged not sure how he wanted to continue. "Did you get everything you wanted out of that little stunt?"

"No."

Wolf was actually a little surprised. The answer was simple, honest and worrying all at once. Tom was rarely that blunt when talking about something like this. It made his warning bells go off, just like they usually did when he dealt with the boy.

"He didn't leave did he?" the soldier continued, feeling an inkling of concern. He and Tom would never see eye to eye. But with Jack and Eagle getting as serious as they were and with Alex being integrated into the Unit, Wolf knew he would be dealing with Tom more than he would have initially liked. The two boys were practically joined at the hip and it was hard to deal with one without dealing with the other. He may not like it, but Tom was a part of all their lives in some way or another.

"He was gone for three weeks, two days, and thirteen hours," Tom replied and it didn't surprise Wolf that he knew exactly how long the arsehole had been gone. "But Mum just couldn't seem to live without him and now he's back."

"And?"

"And what?"

"How have things been since he's been back?" Wolf asked trying not to snap and trying to ignore the fact that he sounded like a therapist.

"I wouldn't know," Tom replied guardedly, his arms crossed.

"What do you mean?" Wolf asked hesitantly, not sure if he wanted to know.

"I left."

"You left?" The boy nodded in confirmation and Wolf felt a headache coming on. Great. "And where exactly, are you living?" He knew it couldn't have been at the Rider house. Eagle would have mentioned something that big.

"The teen shelter," Tom said.

"You're living on the streets?" Wolf asked, incredulous.

"Why are you so shocked?" Tom asked, surprised for some reason. "That's kind of what happens when you run away Wolf."

"Why didn't you go live with Alex?" the soldier asked, his headache now fully present and he pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to rid himself of the pain, both the one in his head and the one sitting across from him.

"Because," the boy replied vaguely, obviously not wanting to answer.

"Because, why?" he pressed.

"Because it's embarrassing!" the boy exclaimed. Wolf didn't push beyond that. He thought he understood, but he wasn't willing to confirm. Tom didn't talk about things like this with anyone, much less with Wolf.

"So what? Are you just planning on living on the streets?" Wolf asked trying his hardest not come off as sarcastic and ultimately failing.

"Maybe," the boy replied, sounding petulant. Wolf rolled his eyes and felt himself blurt out his next words before he could stop himself.

"No," the man snapped. "You'll stay with me until we can get this shit straightened out."

Tom looked as shocked as Wolf felt and the soldier had never regretted speaking before thinking more than in that moment. It wasn't as if he wanted Tom on the streets or in the foster care system; he just wasn't sure he was the appropriate choice for taking care of the kid. The two of them could barely sit in the same room for five minutes before fighting. The kid frustrated him and he frustrated the kid and that was about the extent of their relationship with each other.

"Are...are you serious?" the kid asked. Wolf had never heard the kid hesitate. Ever.

"Yes," the soldier replied. "I'm serious. But it's only temporary until you can go home so don't try to pull any of your stunts with me." Tom just smiled at him in that way that made him nervous. The kid was planning something. He just knew it. "I'm serious Harris. No bullshit."

"Okie dokie."

Wolf had an absolutely terrible feeling about this. He doubted he'd be getting much peace for the foreseeable future.


	14. Icky

Alex wasn't sure how to feel about Tom living with Wolf. It was odd to say the least but that was the only thought that immediately came to him when he heard the news. Tom had told him about moving in with Wolf at the first opportunity, which was to say he'd shouted it down the corridor in front of a dozen MI6 agents and the rest of K-Unit. Alex had never seen Wolf look so uncomfortable. He'd also never seen the man flush with embarrassment but there was a first time for everything.

Alex had gaped at the other boy, not really understanding what he was shouting about. He'd heard Jack giggle and Eagle mutter something under his breath about crazy people. The other two hadn't said anything until Wolf had dragged the boy by the collar of his shirt to join the group.

"Is he being serious?" Snake asked pointing at Tom who was grinning like a jackal. Nobody saw fit to answer the question aloud. After all, they all knew the boy well enough by now to know that the boy was completely serious. No one thought to press the matter further either.

There just didn't seem to be anything they could say. Alex had known there was some problems in Tom's house but never had he suspected they were bad enough for Wolf to take the other boy in. It was an odd situation to say the least. For once Alex didn't know the details of what was going on with his friend and he didn't have the heart to ask either. For whatever reason Tom hadn't wanted him to know the intimate details but he had, for some convoluted reason, let Wolf in enough to know more than his best friend.

Alex felt a prickling of jealousy at that thought. Tom had been his best friend for a long time and they'd once told each other everything. The spy didn't like not knowing what was going on with the other boy. He didn't like admitting that he may have missed something of critical importance in Tom's life. He vowed to himself that something like that would never slip by him again.

And that was how the two boys came to spend most their time at Wolf's flat which was only a few blocks away from Brookland in the opposite direction of his own home. For the first time in a long time, Tom had a place he could bring friends to and he took full advantage of it. Wolf once came home to the entire first string football team eating pizza and playing Xbox in his living room. He hadn't been too pleased and Tom had been grounded-something he ignored at first opportunity.

Tom's mother was heartbroken and determined to have her son return home. However, the boy wouldn't hear of it. It didn't matter that the boyfriend was gone, he had lost his trust in her. He had told her that he would consider coming home when things settled down again but everyone knew he was just trying to placate her. He had no intention of going back there to live. He was out and he wanted to stay out. Alex knew there was a little more to it than what most were seeing though.

Tom didn't have to lie or sneak around with Wolf. The boy had become engrossed in Alex's spy life to a degree and Wolf knew it. There were very little half truths and evaded questions anymore. Tom also found himself with a greater amount of freedom, which he wasn't willing to give up. So the boy settled down into Wolf's flat determined to stay even though he was sleeping on the pull out couch. It didn't bother the boy though. Very little seemed to bother him, which the exact opposite of Wolf.

_Everything_ seemed to bother Wolf. Alex didn't know what the soldier had been expecting when he told Tom he could stay with him but it didn't appear to be what he'd gotten. Tom was naturally messy, he was always late, and he was loud. Wolf couldn't stand the piles of junk the kid had accumulated in seemingly no time at all; punctuality was a big deal for a soldier and Wolf saw Tom's lack of it completely disrespectful; the noise the teenager made just plain annoyed him. It wasn't uncommon for a stern, angry shout of _Harris!_ to ring through the small flat followed shortly by an argument.

None of it bothered Tom, in fact he seemed to enjoy it. Then again, nobody should have expected anything else.

* * *

"Harris!"

"Ugh," Tom sighed as his head dropped onto the back of the couch. "What?"

"Get in here and clean this shit up!" Tom got up and headed back into the bathroom followed by some chuckles from K-Unit and Alex.

"Kid's going to give Wolf a coronary," Snake said, pausing the movie they'd been watching until the noise died down.

"I think he'll only give him high blood pressure," Eagle said.

"Don't people die from high blood pressure?" Alex asked.

"Yes," Fox replied simply. "His headstone will read 'Rey Alvarez: Victim of Annoying Teenager'." They all laughed including Alex even though one could argue that he could be included in that description.

"What's so damn funny?" Wolf growled as he stormed into the living room and took the seat the Tom had just vacated.

"What did he do this time?" Snake asked his face showing his amusement. This new arrangement had been the sole entertainment of K-Unit for two weeks now. There was some loud banging and muffled curse words from the bathroom which effectively redirected Wolf's attention.

"Harris, don't break anything!" the soldier shouted back over his shoulder.

"I'm not!"

"That's what you said last time!"

"Rey!" Snake said sharply, forcing the soldier to answer the previously ignored question.

"He just left a mess in the bathroom," Wolf grumbled. "He's a pig."

"He's a teenager," Fox said, sounding like he was on the verge of laughing. "They're all like that."

"Alex isn't like that," Eagle said from the armchair, nodding his head towards the teen. They all turned and looked at him.

"What?" he said. "Jack likes a clean house."

"So do I," Wolf responded. "How do I get a clean house?"

"You'll never get a clean house," Alex told him.

"Why not?"

"You aren't scary enough." Wolf didn't like the sound of that. He wanted a clean, quiet flat like he'd had before the little monster moved in. To top it all off, the kid didn't want to go home and it wasn't like he had anywhere else to go. Wolf was starting to think he'd need to get a bigger flat. Which meant he had to pay more in rent. Not mention the kid was a bottomless pit and his grocery bill had nearly doubled. If the kid stayed he'd be responsible for clothing him and feeding him. Would he have to pay for University?

Tom came clambering back into the room, cutting off Wolf's ulcer forming process and took a seat on the couch between Alex and the soldier. With all parties reassembled, Snake started the movie.

If you had asked Wolf a year ago if he thought the A-Team was unrealistic he would have said yes without hesitating, but now he knew Alex and Tom better than most people ever could. It suddenly seemed like a likely situation. And he knew that both boys would be attracted to that type of lifestyle. Even if one resisted it more than the other.

"Ooo," Tom said suddenly. "I want to-"

"No," Wolf replied sternly hoping to cut him off before the idea took hold too deeply. He knew, even from the short amount of time the kid had been there, that if Tom thought about something for too long he wouldn't be able to stop himself from doing whatever crazy plan he'd cooked up.

"But," the teen began.

"No."

"Wolf-"

"Under no circumstances are you allowed to try and fly a tank!" Wolf snapped. It seemed that he was snapping a lot lately. It wasn't his fault; Harris had the innate ability of getting on his last nerve quicker than anyone else had ever done before. "You're not allowed to enlist either!"

"Why not?" Tom asked, thrown off guard by the seemingly nonsensical command.

"Because you're enough of a threat to public safety as it is!" the soldier replied. "You're going to work in a cubicle!"

"Well, that sounds awfully boring," the boy threw back. Alex could tell he was doing his hardest not to laugh at Wolf, who was beginning to take Tom's craziness in all the wrong ways.

"Exactly," the man grumbled. "The world will be safer."

"But I only do things when I'm bored so I should enlist and keep myself from being bored," Tom continued and Alex could tell that the logic was sincere on Tom's part. He truly did believe that his craziness came from boredom, a sentiment Alex was inclined to agree with for the most part.

"You are _not_ enlisting!" Wolf snapped back at him. "And I've had it with your messes!"

"What do my messes have to do with the army?" Tom asked sounding as confused as Alex felt in the random leap of logic Wolf had just made.

"Everything! They have everything to do with the army! Clean your shit up!" Wolf was actually standing now, his team looking at him with slightly wide eyes and the movie completely forgotten. "It's like living with a bloody pig and I'm through with it and your antics!"

"What antics?" Tom snapped, standing up himself to face Wolf head on. "I haven't done anything!" Despite, Tom's insistence that he was innocent of whatever Wolf was accusing him of, Alex knew that it was all about perspective. Tom rarely thought he'd done something deserving whatever punishment he'd been given.

"You know exactly what you've done," Wolf replied, eyes narrowing. "You make me miss Iraq!" With that somewhat nasty remark, Wolf turned on his heels and stormed out of the room towards the kitchen. Everyone stayed silent for a full minute, more than a little shocked, but also trying to laugh. Even though, Wolf had said something that could be taken very badly, they all knew Tom wouldn't be particularly bothered, making the soldier's little meltdown all the more hilarious.

Once Tom had finally settled back into his seat, Snake dug his hand into his front jeans pocket and withdrew a folded slip of paper.

"So who had him cracking between weeks two and three?" he asked, eyes roaming over the list of numbers and names.

"I did," Fox said and held out his hands as Eagle, Snake, and Alex each dug out their wallets to fork over the right amount of money. Tom looked incredulous.

"Hey!" he snapped. "Why wasn't I let in on this betting pool?"

"Because you'd time it so that you would win," Alex replied. "It's unfair." Tom just pouted and crossed his arms.

"No fair."

Break

Tom found Wolf in the kitchen, gazing out of the window over the sink, beer bottle forgotten on the counter. The others had left, figuring it was time to go. Tom was sad to see them leave. He was completely aware that Wolf was feeling some stress with this new responsibility and the man was usually less tense with his friends around. Not to mention, it was nice to have Alex hang out where he was staying for once.

"Rey?" he hedged and the man spared him a glance. "The others left." The soldier just nodded. "Are you angry?"

"No, kid," Wolf replied, finally looking at Tom head on. "I'm not angry."

"Then what was with the miniature meltdown?" Wolf snorted and rolled his eyes at the blunt phrasing.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," the man said, turning around so that he could lean against the sink and folded his arms.

"Fine," the boy told him and the promptly changed the subject. Well, sort of. "What's wrong with me joining the army?"

"Nothing," Wolf sighed, wanting nothing more but to move on from the whole army thing. Besides, it wasn't as if he could really stop the kid from enlisting if he really wanted to, no matter how much he feared for his country's safety. No one ever really told Harris what to do. The kid let you have a certain amount of authority of over him and if he decided he didn't want to play anymore, he didn't. It was truly that simple. Looking at the clock, Wolf said, "What do you want for dinner?"

"Chinese," the boy replied, immediately distracted at the thought of being fed.

"We had that yesterday," the soldier said, opening up the fridge to see if there was anything he could cook.

"Pizza."

"No."

"McDonald's."

"Lasagna," Wolf said finding some sauce and cheese. He knew he had a box of lasagna noodles in the cabinet.

"That's icky."

"That's healthy."

"Exactly."

"Have you finished your homework?"

"Yes."

"Harris."

"Fine."

As he boiled water, Wolf began to wonder how they had fallen into that domestic routine crap. It had always been the exact opposite of what he'd wanted in his life. That was why he had joined the SAS in the first place. All he needed to be a cliché was a wife, a dog, and a nine to five job. It didn't appeal to him in the slightest. In fact, to quote Harris, that was just icky.


	15. Long Distance Support

Hey guys, kind of went with a little different format with this one. Let me know what you think.

* * *

Wolf was often in a congenial mood when on duty which was odd to say the least since he was currently in Afghanistan. Many of his fellow soldiers considered him to be a strange cookie for considering the rebel infested desert a beautiful vacation spot. That was until they overheard him on the phone with whoever it was he spoke to back home.

"What do you mean you broke it?" Wolf practically yelled into the phone attracting the attention of all those still in line waiting for their turn on the phone. "Do you have any idea how expensive that printer was?"

Panther and Eagle broke off from their conversation as they glanced towards the phone booth, one with amusement and one with concern.

"What do think is going on?" Panther asked.

"Whatever it is, it is not good," the other soldier replied with a small shake of his head and a smile.

"Who is he even talking to?" Panther asked.

"Accomplice," Eagle said forgetting if Panther had ever been given the kid's name after the bank hostage incident.

"Why is he using his one call to talk to Accomplice?" Panther asked, his eyebrows crinkling in confusion. "I thought he couldn't stand the kid."

"He can't," Eagle told him but didn't seem inclined to explain further. Panther raised his eyebrows in an expression that clearly said he wasn't going to except that for an answer. The other soldier sighed but continued. "Wolf is looking after Accomplice for a little while."

"Like, as the kid's guardian?" Panther asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, it surprised us too," Eagle said. The two were distracted again as Wolf's conversation again spiked in volume.

"How the hell did you manage to change the language to Portuguese?" he shouted and Eagle assumed they were still discussing the broken printer. There was a long pause as Wolf listened to whatever Tom was saying on the other end. "No, I don't know how hard it is to find a repairman who speaks Portuguese, Harris, and I don't care. If that printer isn't fixed by the time I get home you're grounded." There was another pause from Wolf and the soldiers behind him started laughing slightly at the normally calm and collected man's obvious irritation. "Forever! That's how long!"

"So they don't get along, right?" Panther asked slowly, knowing he was approaching a personal topic but couldn't seem to stop himself from asking. He was just too curious.

"Sometimes," Eagle replied. "They're actually pretty good for each other. Balance each other out and all that." Panther was ready with another question but was distracted yet again by Wolf and his explosive conversation with home. Panther thought it a little sad. Calls home were supposed to be the calmest part of the job and a moment the soldiers looked forward to. But Wolf's calls seemed to be a separate war altogether.

"I don't care if the sundae isn't complete without the sprinkles! Just eat the damn ice cream and quit giving Jack such a hard time!" Wolf snapped. After another pause Wolf pulled the phone away from his ear to give it a weird look before he continued the conversation. "No, I wasn't aware Cub sings like an angel. What does that have to do with anything?" Nearly everyone lost it that point but were ultimately able to shove the laughter back down.

Wolf took a deep breath to calm himself and then said, "Did you finish that book report?" The soldiers in line lost control of their laughter at that point and Wolf had to turn sharply to glare them back into silence.

Wolf finished his call not long after that and practically slammed it back into the cradle before storming out of the phone tent.

"And people wonder why I look forward to deployment," he snarled as he came near to where Eagle and Panther were standing.

"So," Eagle said to gain his friend's attention. "How's the kid?"

"Same as always," Wolf growled, glaring at nothing in particular and crossing his arms. "Jack will tell you." Wolf looked as if he had a very sour lemon in his mouth and walked away grumbling about teenagers, crazies, and printers stuck in Portuguese.

* * *

By the time the next phone call rolled around most of the SAS soldiers had gathered around the tent in order to overhear. They had all heard about Cub and Accomplice up at Brecon Beacons. In fact a few of them had been present during Cub's brief training and when the two boys had been there hiding out. And all of them were more than a little curious about Wolf's new domestic situation. They may be the country's most elite soldiers but they had a tendency to be gossips too.

Fox had the pleasure of being just behind Wolf in line for the phone and thus overheard most of the conversation that took place. This week the conversation was fairly calm. Tom didn't seem to want to talk about anything more controversial than his football game.

"How was it?" Wolf asked. "Did the team make the championship?...Congratulations...When is that game?...If I can, I'm not sure how much longer we'll be here...Another week maybe...How was your history test?...I told you it would help...You're dad called? What happened?...We'll talk about it when I get home but don't take it too seriously. Did you tell your mom?...You need to call her. She probably wants to talk to you about it...Yeah...Yeah...Just try not to make things harder on Jack...Yes I know you're not insane...No you can't get a chicken for a pet...Fine, I'll talk to you next week...Bye."

That phone call was an entertainment disappointment.

* * *

Next week was infinitely more entertaining. Tom Harris was incapable of not doing something incredibly stupid and/or frustrating.

"What did I tell you about causing trouble? How much damage was there?" Wolf was overheard saying quite loudly. "You're fifteen Harris, almost sixteen! You know it's impossible to dig a hole to the other side of the world so don't give me that bullshit! What were you really digging for?"

Snake shook his head at this point; Fox just continued flipping his magazine; Eagle prayed that this hole hadn't been dug in the Rider's backyard. If it had he would be the one trying to salvage what was left of their grass.

"Do you really expect me to believe you were digging for oil?" Wolf asked incredulous. "You aren't seven Harris and you can't just expect to get away with this crap anymore. I will not put up with any of that Easter Bunny Incident bullshit."

Panther shot Wolf's tensed back a strange look as did the rest of his Unit.

"What were you digging for?...You're lying through your teeth...Yes, you are...Because I can tell Harris!...If you think that wasting my call allowance is going to get you off the hook your dead wrong. If I have to I will have you shipped out here...Yes I can, Jones owes me a favor and I'm not above having you stuffed in a wood crate and brought here so I can deal with you in person...Why would you try to dig up the neighborhood's water pipe?...I'm pretty sure it's a federal offense to dye the water supply green Tom...I don't care if its National Jokester Day! You are not allowed to screw with the city's water supply!...What do you think?...Two weeks. No Chuck, no unnamed Wii, no telly, none of it."

Wolf eyed the clock as his time came to a close. He glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone was laughing but nobody dared looked him in the eye, much less show their amusement.

"I'm not saying that...No...Good-bye Harris...Yes, you're allowed to go to the championship game...I'll try...A week maybe...Yes...No...Yes...Alright, bye."

* * *

A week and a half later Eagle received an interesting package from Jack. When he opened it up on his cot he found a DVD, some pictures, and a letter resting in the bright red tissue paper Jack used last Christmas when wrapping gifts. He rolled his eyes at her improvisation.

"Whatcha got there?" Fox asked as he collapsed onto his own cot just to the right of Eagle. They shared the hut with the rest of K-Unit and J-Unit.

"Just something Jack sent me," he said and read the letter silently and slowly, taking in her girly handwriting and the pizza stain in the top right corner. She had also kissed the paper near the bottom by her signature leaving a bright pink lip stain and he could he smell her body spray. Jack didn't like the smell of perfume so she would use a melon body spray she bought at the grocery store.

_Andy,_

_Everything is going well here. Well, everything's normal here which is to say it isn't always well. I miss you bunches and bunches. This letter is a little shorter because we decided to send you a video recording of Alex's Championship game and some pictures I thought you might like. _

_I won't ruin the surprise of the game but I will tell you that it was a nail bitter. You would have enjoyed it. I can't wait to see you again and as soon as you get home I'll make your favorite biscuits. Alex sends his love (don't tell him I said it like that) and he bought another horror movie for you two to watch next movie night. _

_Stay safe._

_Hugs and kisses._

_Jack_

Eagle smiled and slide the letter under his pillow to re-read later before he picked up the three photos in the box. He rolled his eyes at Jack's sentimentality. He was pretty sure Alex had no idea what pictures she had sent to Afghanistan because the teen would never have approved of these floating around a SAS Army camp.

The first one was simply of Jack baking something in the kitchen. Eagle could see the eggs, flour, and sugar behind her. She had her long red hair up in a messy bun and there was a small bit of flour on her cheek. Her green shirt was covered with spilt flour and she was smiling so wide he could see all of her teeth. He smiled to himself, missing her a little more acutely than he had been before.

The second picture was of her and Alex on the couch. Alex had all of his books spread out on the coffee table and looked to be in the middle of a huge pile of homework. Jack was smiling at the camera and Alex was giving a small-but clearly annoyed-smile. Eagle figured it was Tom who took the picture. He usually stayed at the Rider house when Wolf was deployed.

The third picture was a professional one of Alex and some girl at the spring dance Jack had told him about two weeks ago. Eagle had to admit that the kid cleaned up nice and that he had good taste in girls. She was pretty; way out of the kid's league.

"Hey," Eagle said, gaining everyone's attention. "We need a television." He held up the DVD.

"What is that?" Snake asked.

"It's the championship game we missed," he said and Wolf perked up. He had legitimately wanted to go to that game. It was a big deal to both boys and Wolf was aware that Tom's parents would be iffy on attendance. The darker soldier went out to find a television with a DVD player and it didn't take him long to locate one and get it all hooked up in their hut. His actions caused some stir and it wasn't long before half the camp was stuffed into their small space eagerly awaiting a football game, even though it was just a high school championship game.

Jack had been right about it being a nail bitter. The two teams were pretty much evenly matched and the first half passed with some close calls on both sides but with no actual scoring. Eagle had to admit that Tom was probably the best player on the field, better than Alex even, despite his skills and advanced athletic prowess. Tom was born to be on the field and he made a brilliant captain.

In the end the boys' team, the Spartans, won the game by a single goal with only thirty seconds on the clock. With the way the SAS soldiers were cheering and carrying on a passerby would have thought that England had just won the World Cup. But that was how it was when this was the only solid entertainment you had in a month. Besides, it had been a great game.

Eagle rose from his chair to turn off the DVD once the game was over, figuring it was done but Snake stopped him.

"Hang on," he said. "I don't think it's over." And it wasn't. The DVD cut away from the recording of the game to a small news clip on the local station.

_"And this week was the local Championship game between Brookland and Tremont. The game made news in areas outside of sports for its dedication ceremony which took place just before the game started. John is at the field to bring us some more details on this heartwarming local story."_

Eagle felt mildly confused for a moment. The DVD had started right at the first whistle. They hadn't seen any sort of dedication. The screen cut away again to the field where a reporter was standing next to none other than a profusely sweating Tom Harris.

_"Thanks, Karen. I'm standing here with the Brookland Spartan's captain Tom Harris. First off, Tom, congratulations on the stellar victory."_

_"Thanks, John," _Tom replied breathlessly, looking excited and elated.

_"Now, both you and the Tremont captain came to together today to give this game a very special dedication to all of the British soldiers currently serving overseas."_

_"Yes, sir,"_ Tom replied. _"We have several team members on both teams who currently have family on active duty and couldn't be here today. We just wanted them to know we were thinking of them."_

_"Now as I understand it you yourself have a family member in Afghanistan,"_ the reporter continued and everyone glanced quickly at Wolf and Eagle. However, both were silent and concentrating on the news report whole heartedly. Both soldiers were more than a little touched but not showing it.

_"Yeah, my guardian,"_ Tom said. _"He tried his hardest to be here but duty called."_ The kid didn't sound bitter about it at all, in fact he was smiling and sounded perfectly content with the outcome of these events. _"We wanted all the soldiers that couldn't be here to feel as if they had been so we dedicated the game to them. We also had a fundraiser at both schools to raise money for a professional camera crew to tape the game and to pay for the postage of sending it to all of the family members overseas."_

That explained the quality of the picture. Eagle had wondered how Jack had managed not to put her thumb in front of the lens or drop the video recorder once. It was because she hadn't filmed it at all.

_"We also donated all of the proceeds from the school's Spring Dance to the army hospital here in London."_ Wolf smiled at Tom's last comment. The reporter quickly signed off after that but not before Tom waved at the camera and Wolf saw that he had a piece of bandana wrapped his wrist. It was Tom's signature addition to his uniform. Usually it was just a dark blue bandana with a paisley pattern but Tom had made a special addition to it for this game. A small bright pink patch in the shape of a 'K'. It didn't take a genius to know what it meant.

The DVD ended after that and the soldiers all sat in silence for a moment, more than a little touched at the support from the famed Accomplice. And then the applause started. It was quick but loud, and once it was over people started filtering out to go back to their various tasks. Eagle took the DVD out of the player and carefully put it back into its case.

"Think I should I un-ground the kid?" Wolf asked eventually looking slightly torn.

"That was probably his intention all along," Snake told him.

"He's not _that_ diabolical," Fox chimed in but Wolf gave him a look. "Right?"

"I'll just buy him some comic books," the soldier continued, settling on a plan. "He'll be happy with that."

* * *

Panther stood in line to wait his turn for the phone. He wasn't feeling too nervous, like he normally was just before he called home. He was a little too distracted by Wolf's conversation just like everyone else was. The man was talking in normal tones and thus Panther was really the only one who could hear him. But people were still curious. They wanted to know what else the kid had done in the two weeks they hadn't been able to call. Everyone had missed last week's call due to a severe sand storm that interfered with the communications and anything that wasn't of the highest importance wasn't done.

"We got that DVD," Wolf said, and then smiled at whatever the reply was. "Yeah, we did, about half the camp saw it. That was one hell of a game kiddo...Yeah? What did the scout say?...That's great! I'll sign the papers when I get back...We fly back in a few days...Promise...If you come with Jack to the airport we'll go out to eat...No, Tom we aren't going to McDonald's. Pick somewhere else...I'll go for that...I don't think airport security will be happy about you bringing that inside...No, leave that at home...Jack told Eagle that progress reports have gone home so don't think you can hide it from me...Why would you put it in the freezer?...I don't think the paper is going to degrade in a few weeks...Put it in my desk and then leave it there, you hear?"

Panther tuned the rest of the conversation out. The two obviously weren't in a fighting mood and he felt more than little weird about listening in at this point. Wolf deserved a private conversation with the kid.

* * *

When K-Unit stepped into the baggage area of the airport they were greeted by their various family members. Fox went to his fiancé; Snake darted off to his new girlfriend and sister; J-unit split off from their bunk mates to go to their various family members as well. Their reunions were getting a little more attention than normal due to the fact they were still in their fatigues. People loved to see soldiers reunited with their families.

It didn't take long for Eagle to find Jack who latched on and refused to let go. Wolf saw Alex standing next to them patiently but awkwardly. The soldier couldn't see Tom anywhere and he fought down a groan. The last thing he wanted was to go hunting for the kid through the busy airport.

He didn't have to go searching though. Tom came out of nowhere and before Wolf could do anything he had jumped up on him with a bright smile and a look in his eye that Wolf had come to associate with a sugar high.

"Oof," the man grunted as the kid's full weight pushed the air from his body and he had to fight to keep his balance.

"Harris," he growled as the boy hung on like he was a monkey. He saw several of his fellows laughing at the sight. Alex had his mobile out and Wolf was positive he was taking a picture, which he would take care of later.

"Wolfie-poo!" the boy greeted brightly. "You're home!"

"Yeah, I know that," the man said with a glare. "Now get off of me." The boy complied and Wolf got a good look at him for the first time in over a month and a half. The boy didn't seem that much different than when he'd left. In fact the only new thing about him was his t-shirt. It was in a army-like fatigue pattern and had lettering on the front that said, "I heart Army". Wolf felt his eye twitch but didn't react otherwise like he knew the kid wanted.

Tom was talking rapidly, barely pausing for breath, and Wolf had the distinct feeling that the kid was hyper, a horrible state in Wolf's general opinion.

"Tom," the soldier cut in, his hand on the kid's shoulder, demanding his full attention. "Did you have Mountain Dew again?"

The boy's sugar crazed smile was all the answer he needed. Tom continued talking, perfectly content in not having Wolf answer, as the man led him out of the airport and to a cab that would take them back to the flat. Eagle, Jack, and Alex had already left for their own home as had the rest of the Unit.

When they made it home Wolf went to shower and change before they were to go to dinner at Tom's favorite Greek place. But when the soldier came into the living room he found the boy dead asleep on the couch, his sugar high gone and the remote held loosely in his hand as Scooby-Doo played on the screen. He looked dead to the world and Wolf didn't have the heart to wake him. He just took the remote and turned off the television before he draped the kid's favorite blanket over him.

"Good to see you too buddy," he whispered before he went back into his room to take a look at that progress report. If he were Tom where would he hide it?


	16. Of Cupcakes and Video Tapes

Being the guardian of Alex Rider was a difficult task on the best of days and downright impossible on the worst. Eagle knew this small factoid well, even though he was not _technically_ the boy's guardian. However, Jack had made it perfectly clear to her ward that he was treat Eagle in the same manner he would her. The two of them hadn't had too many issues with each other; in fact, the soldier liked the kid, craziness and all. It also helped that they weren't around each other all of the time.

Eagle did work that required him to leave with barely a moment's notice sometimes. Jack weathered it well enough but with both Tom and Alex to take care of when K-Unit deployed, the American had more than enough interesting happenings to keep her on her toes. The soldier didn't usually bother to find out any details about what had happened while he was gone. If the two got into some sort of trouble he let Jack deal with it and in Tom's case he let Jack tell Wolf how to deal with it. That was how it worked and he was perfectly okay with it all.

But the nature of Tom and Alex's relationship with K-Unit and their professional world was a peculiar one. Even with Alex no longer spying, the boy really couldn't seem to stick his nose out of international and/or criminal affairs. Tom was just nosey in general. The combination of all these factors had the ability to bring about some interesting situations and unfortunately there was no manual on how best to deal with your fifteen year old spy and his lunatic sidekick. Jack made it seem effortless sometimes and Eagle often found himself jealous of her when he had to deal with these things by himself.

Like now for instance. Now was a time he wished she was here, if to just explain why he hadn't been told about this in the slightest. Despite not wanting details the woman usually told him enough for him to be informed. But _this_. This he hadn't even had the slightest inclination about. And now he and the rest of the unit were completely caught off guard in a room full of SAS soldiers and their superiors.

To his left, Wolf growled in a way that Eagle knew meant he was pondering murdering Tom tonight. Fox had a wide eyed look to him that showed just how truly surprised he was. Snake looked happy that he didn't have to really deal with the two boys on any consistent basis. And to think that just a couple of hours ago they had all been in a rather congenial mood.

* * *

"We should have brought Cub to this," Snake said as he checked in and picked up the program at the table with the blue covering and smiling twenty-something woman.

"He's not on any kind of active duty," Eagle replied and followed his friend into the auditorium. "Besides, he's in a completely different organization."

"We could have swung him an invitation," Snake replied and Eagle knew it to be true. If Alex had wanted to come to the seminar on Public Tactical Maneuvering they probably could have easily gotten him in. After all he was Cub, youngest SAS trainee since, well, ever really. Eagle shrugged, knowing the other man wanted a reply but not really wanting to open up that conversation.

Losing Alex as an active operative-while good for the conscious-had been somewhat dissatisfying to the organizations he'd worked with. The kid was good, better than most ever could be, and they would probably never be able to replace him. But Eagle didn't dare broach that side of the argument in front of anyone who may have even the slightest chance of telling Jack. He didn't enjoy sleeping on the couch.

Besides, he knew the kid on a personal level and that more than changed the playing field. He didn't want the boy to get hurt anymore than Jack did. Not to mention that when Alex was on a mission it was likely to be big and grandiose. The boy never could do anything quietly and neither could Tom for that matter. It was probably why they were such good friends. One loved the impossible and one was impossible.

The two soldiers found Wolf and Fox quickly enough and joined them in a row half-way up the large lecture hall. They had never been to a military seminar before but Eagle was certain it would at least be interesting. One had to have a certain clearance just to get in and Eagle could spot several high ranking officers in the crowd. He wondered what it would be like.

To his right Snake let out a low whistle as he looked over the itinerary.

"Something interesting?" Eagle asked keeping his voice low so as not to drown out the low hum of conversation and call attention to themselves.

"Yeah, listen to this title," the other man replied and all three of his friends leaned over to hear him better, curious. "Why not to allow civilians to participate in emergency operations."

"What kind of lecture is that?" Fox asked.

"It isn't," Snake replied. "It's a video of some sort. Says here a civilian filmed an entire emergency operation from start to finish."

"Wow," Wolf said. "Poor camera guy." Knowing what they did about what constituted an emergency operation, Wolf's sentiment was met with several nods of agreement. They were distracted after that by the various other soldiers around them. G-Unit wanted to know their thoughts about Iraq; Panther from J-Unit came over to check in on them; Wasp from T-Unit wanted to see if they were planning on being in town long and if they would want to get together for drinks; Kangaroo from A-Unit wanted to know if Snake had anymore vicodin left from his last injury. The last was met with a disapproving look from the medic but the man didn't reply beyond that.

Soon enough however, the seminar started and they spent the first hour and a half going over basic maneuvers and tactics. Well, basic for K-Unit who had done most of what the instructor was describing in their various dealings with Tom and Alex. Surprisingly, having to rescue the two boys from high speed chases, hostage situations, and really tall trees (Tom was sometimes _too_ in touch with his inner five-year old) really did prepare one for dealing with the situations the instructor felt they may one day face.

Eagle was just starting to wonder if he could slip out without being noticed when the lights dimmed and the video they had read about began to play. The very first screen was just some text explaining that it had been edited for the seminar and then there was a file identification number. And then the video cut away to the first scene.

_Kids_.

That was the first thing they saw. Teenagers and it was clear within the first few seconds that they were on a class trip. One girl explained it to the boy holding the camera. A trip to the Science Museum. The kids were currently waiting for the tube which the school had decided to take instead of a bus just for the fun of it.

Within the next ten seconds Eagle felt his stomach drop when the camera panned onto a very familiar black haired boy with blue eyes full of mischief.

"Damn it," Wolf said much louder than was necessary and nearly the entire hall turned to look at him and his incredulous expression. Only a handful of them recognized the kid as Accomplice so Wolf looked more than a little ridiculous. Their attention was eventually drawn back to the screen, however, when it was clear that Wolf was far too interested in what was happening.

"_Hey Tom,_" said a voice just out of view. "_What do you plan on doing at the Museum?_"

"_I plan on finally getting that shot of me in the space suit,_" the boy replied and Eagle rolled his eyes. Such a typical response.

"_You'll get kicked out,_" Alex said as he stepped into the frame.

"_Of where? The museum because it'll be worth it,_" Tom replied not daunted.

"_No, of school,_" the blond replied. "_Not to mention what'll happen when you get home._"

"_What he doesn't know won't hurt him,_" Tom said and Eagle glanced over to see Wolf glaring at the screen as if that would stop the kid from doing whatever he had planned. "_Or me for that matter._"

Eagle heard Snake stifle a snicker at that as did J-Unit directly behind them. If the soldier had been brave enough he would have turned to see Wolf's right eye twitch instead of just imagining it. On screen, the boys continued with their banter.

"_You don't think he'll know if you're expelled?_"

"_No,_" Tom said with a smirk. "_Like_ _I said what he doesn't know won't hurt me._"

"_Still, I think-_" Alex started but they never did find out what he thought. He was interrupted by the distinct sound of gunfire. They saw the camera jerk violently as whoever held it dropped low with the rest of the kids. Screaming, more gunfire, and suddenly Eagle saw Alex's shoes take off.

"_Alex!_" Tom screamed. "_You're supposed to run away from Shooty McShooter-Pants, not towards! Dumb blond!_"

And with that odd shout of concern, the shorter boy was off and running as well.

"_Tom!_" shouted another boy and the camera followed the football star. The movements were jerky and out of focus but they could clearly see Alex and Tom running at full speed after a distant figure who hopped into a car immediately after hitting the street.

It took Alex all of two seconds to break into a rather crappy vehicle and hotwire it. Tom grabbed the passenger's seat and the camera boy sat in the back.

"_You shouldn't be here!_" Alex shouted but pressed the gas pedal down anyway so as not to lose the shooter.

"_Like hell!_" Tom shouted right back. "_Who was that?_"

"_Skoda!_"

"_Who?_" the camera boy shouted from the back as they rounded a sharp corner.

"_A drug dealer,_" Alex responded loudly but no longer shouting as he focused on maneuvering through the heavy traffic without crashing. Eagle winced at the squeal of tires.

"_Is he that one you dropped on top of police headquarters?_" Tom asked.

"_Yes,_" was the simple reply. Then the boy happened to glance into the rearview mirror and saw the camera in the other boy's hand. "_Turn that off!_"

"_No way man,_" the still unknown kid replied. "_This is gold._"

"_Forget about it Alex,_" Tom shouted as they swerved right to avoid an oncoming car. "_Grey-man won't let him keep it! Look out!_"

"_AHH!_"

"Shit," Fox exclaimed under his breath as the car and camera were thrown violently in an attempt to both maintain control and avoid a delivery truck that certainly hadn't been there a second ago. Eagle felt his heart rate go up with worry despite knowing that Alex was perfectly fine, at home and probably with Tom.

As the video went on Eagle discovered that Alex really wouldn't need those drivers education classes Jack had once mentioned. The kid could drive better than anyone Eagle had ever seen. He was much better with this high speed chase concept than Tom was. Eventually the car they were chasing skidded off the road and into a tree. The driver was out and running almost before the car had settled and Alex hit the brakes.

"_Stay here!_" he commanded firmly as he leapt out of the vehicle and continued with his chase. Eagle wondered why this guy was so important. Clearly the two had a history but Eagle had never before seen Alex so determined to catch someone. He was no stranger to the concept of danger so for him to allow Tom and another classmate to tag along on this chase was significant. Whatever this drug dealer had done, the boy was not willing to forgive or forget. Eagle pitied the runner.

"_C'mon,_" the boy with the camera said as soon as Alex was out of sight in the park they'd stopped by.

"_Are you insane?_" Tom snapped. "_Stay here! Wait! James!_"

While Tom knew to follow Alex's orders for the most part this other boy didn't and he out of the car and running, Tom and his shouts and curses not far behind. The two civilians continued on their run through the park following the sound of people shouting and even more gun fire. The entire hall was leaning forward by now, thoroughly interested. It hadn't taken long for it circulate that the two boys were Cub and Accomplice.

Eventually the camera came to rest on Alex standing alone in a small quad that had a flag pole in the very center. Skoda's gun was tucked into the front of his jeans and his hands were resting on his hips as he caught his breath.

"_Let me down you little punk!_" came a very angry, deep shout and the camera tilted up for them to see the drug dealer attached to the flag pole by his belt, hanging twenty feet in the air.

"_How the bloody hell did you get him up there?_" the camera boy, James, asked. The frame panned back to Alex who shook his head.

"_I'd rather not talk about it,_" he said breathlessly. The sounds of sirens pierced the sudden silence.

"_We should go,_" Tom said. "_If we leave now we won't be arrested._"

"_Agreed,_" James responded.

"_Sounds good,_" Alex said and the camera began to walk at a much more sedated pace back to where the car was. "_Oh and let's not tell Jack about this._"

"_Sure,_" Tom replied and the camera panned to him in time to catch his smirk. "_I won't tell if you don't tell. Will our dear, sweet cupcake shut his mouth?_"

Snake snorted at the last line and Eagle heard Fox try to cover a laugh. Both Eagle and Wolf were a little too worked up about the video to enjoy the humor in the moment. No wonder Jack hadn't said anything to him. She didn't know either. Those sneaky little-.

"_Yeah,_" Alex said with a smirk as well. "_He'll shut his mouth._"

The moment continued and just before the screen went black they heard, "_Who's cupcake?_"

There was dead silence in the hall as Wolf stood up to storm out in pure anger. Eagle managed to sit through the rest of the seminar but he didn't much listen as the instructor broke down the different aspects of the video and how civilians caused all sorts of problems. He knew all too well the lesson the man was trying to teach. K-Unit lived through it and dealt with it all the time. He was wondering on how best to inform Jack that she needed to ground Alex.

* * *

Jack wasn't there when he returned home. He was too irritated with what had just happened to wait for her though so he followed the sounds of the television and found the offending teenager in the living room watching a movie. Grabbing the remote out of his loose grip the soldier turned the television off.

"Hey!" Alex exclaimed. "What gives?"

"What gives?" Eagle snapped. "I'll tell you 'what gives'. I just saw the most interesting video today."

"At the seminar?" Alex asked not yet cottoning on that he was in trouble.

"Yes," Eagle snarled and the kid looked taken aback. "Can you guess what it was about?"

"Saving Private Ryan?" the boy threw out.

"No Cub!" the man shouted. "It was of you and Tom and some other little hooligan chasing down a rampaging drug dealer in a stolen car!" Alex's brown eyes went impossibly large at that and he looked genuinely concerned.

"Oh."

"Oh?" Eagle asked incredulously. "Oh? All you can say is 'oh'?"

"Oh my?"

"This isn't funny Alex," the soldier replied, seething.

"I've been through worse," the boy replied and the wind exited Eagle's sails as quickly as it had come. He sighed and dropped the remote on the coffee table before he took a seat next to the wary teenager.

"Look, Alex," he said much calmer. "You're no longer on active duty. You have no excuse for breaking away from your class to chase that guy down. Not only did Tom follow you but so did another classmate. What if it hadn't ended the way it had? What if Skoda had gotten off a shot? Both of those boys didn't listen to your command to stay put. They were both in an incredible amount of danger they didn't need to be in because they were following you."

"I know," the kid said softly, staring intently at the floor and looking more pitiful than Eagle had ever seen him before. The boy looked incredibly guilty.

"I'm not going to sugar coat anything for you Alex," the soldier said and put a hand on the kid's shoulder. "That video was an example of how civilians should not be permitted to tag along. Tom is a civilian and he could have easily gotten killed. Skoda was running away. There was no need to follow him and put all three of you in that kind of danger. If you want out kid, you need to _stay_ out. Blunt could have easily taken this as a cue to put you on another mission. Is that what you want?"

"No," Alex responded with a shake of his head. "That's not what I want."

"Then cut it with the heroics," the man said perhaps a little too harshly if the flash of anger in the kid's eye was anything to go by. He was no longer staring at the floor. His eyes were piercing Eagle's in a way that reminded him of their training Sergeant.

"It's personal with Skoda," the boy said harshly but Eagle didn't blink.

"That doesn't change anything," the soldier told him. "You're a civilian now. Leave an anonymous tip, call the police, testify in court, do _not_ steal a car and go on a high speed chase in the middle of London. If something happens to you Jack will be very upset and then I'll have to kill you."

The last startled a chuckle from Alex and Eagle squeezed his shoulder fondly before removing his hand.

"Andy?" the kid hedged.

"What?"

"Are you going to tell Jack about this?"

"I have to," the man replied and held up a hand to stop the kid from saying anything in protest. "Even she will notice Wolf foaming at the mouth for the next few weeks."

"He's that mad huh?" Alex asked with a small, amused smile.

"Oh yeah!" Eagle laughed. "Tom was in infinitely more danger than you were. Not only that but we had to find out that the two of you lied to all of us in front of an auditorium full of SAS soldiers." Alex winced at that point. "You know how Wolf is when it comes to being caught off guard by kids." Both of them remembered their first round at Brecon Beacons well enough to know that Tom may need to kick Wolf out of a plane before the man would get off his case.

Despite the trouble he found himself in, the blond was glad that he was, for the first time, not going through it all alone. It was actually rather comforting to know that he and his best friend would be grounded at the same time for their crazy escapade. It was all rather normal actually.

Laying in bed that night after his two hour long lecture from Jack about never again stringing up drug dealers by the their belts, Alex's mobile buzzed with a new text message. The thing wouldn't be taken away in case of an all too likely emergency so he was still in contact with Tom. Opening the message he couldn't help but let loose a quiet laugh.

_That foul little cupcake deserves to be chewed up and spit out by rabid armadillos._

And while Alex agreed wholeheartedly with Tom's feelings he wondered how the other boy came up with this stuff. Maybe he really was crazy.


	17. KUnit

Part of the job was living with the consequences of the danger they engrossed themselves in. Every member of K-Unit knew-as did all soldiers-that there might be a day they didn't make it and that there might be an enemy they couldn't beat. And all of them knew that when they said goodbye to their families at the airport or at home it may be the last time they ever saw them. But that was the job and all of them accepted it for what it was, as did their families. It was just part of the job; it was just part of the life.

K-Unit never particularly worried about Jack, Alex, and Tom in that respect. The three were about as engrossed in their professional world as civilians could be. They understood better than most and while Jack openly fussed over Eagle she never instilled any guilt in him-purposefully or otherwise. When they deployed Tom lived at the Rider home, which was the only place that set Wolf's mind at ease. Despite the man's stony appearance and nonchalant attitude towards the guardianship he had grown to genuinely care about the kid and he worried about him.

Tom was easy to worry about after all. He was by far the most vulnerable of the group and Wolf knew him to be more fragile as well-not that Tom would ever openly admit it. So Wolf worried about him: if he was alright; if his father was giving him a hard time; if his quirkiness was descending down into true insanity. He couldn't help it; living with Tom brought on a whole new perspective for Wolf not just in terms of the kid but in general.

As Snake had once said, "Kid's calmed you down."

So while the soldiers worried about home and home worried about the soldiers, the job continued. Nothing stopped when someone got killed or injured. There was remembrance and memorials and tough times but the job continued on. They knew this and for the most part they didn't begrudge it. They knew if they allowed anything to stop that the enemy was that much closer to victory.  
Which was why even in a unit as close knit and exclusive as theirs they didn't protest the addition of a temporary extra when one of them went down.

Snake had been caught in an explosion and while his burns healed and they waited for the psyche evaluators to give the all clear for his return to active duty, the army rotated a new guy to fill in for a while.

A fresh out of training rookie codenamed Puma. The man was a powerhouse with his thick build and tall frame. He stood over Wolf by nearly a half foot though he and Eagle were nearly the same in height. Wolf wasn't sure if he liked the man. But then he was wary about any newcomer be it in the unit or just in general.

They had all met at a local eatery in the middle of the day on a Tuesday. Despite being the largest guy there, Puma was clearly nervous about meeting all four of them at once. Wolf knew why of course, but he did hope the guy would settle down soon. After all, it wasn't as if they'd brought the boys along. Which was why they'd chosen a Tuesday. The two now infamous teens were in school and out of their hair while they gauged the new guy. No need to expose him to Tom and Alex before they knew he could handle any craziness that may or may not come his way.

"How was training?" Wolf asked as he continued to make a dent in the large pile of chips that came with the burger. Was there a reason they gave you that many?

"About as well as expected," the man replied.

"So it was miserable?" Fox asked knowingly and then laughed at Puma's face. "Guess the Sergeant's still got it."

"We should be heading back ourselves soon," Snake said. "We're due for some refreshers." The others nodded not really wanting to broach that topic then and there; they were trying to enjoy their lunch. Fox and Puma descended into a discussion about the guest instructor the Sergeant had secured during Puma's training. An ex-MI5 operative who Puma said was more than a little out of it. Apparently the trainees had been a bit disappointed. They'd expected something similar to the lesson that Fox and Eagle had given with Tom and Alex.

"How are they?" Puma asked cordially but Wolf could tell he was fishing. Probably interested. The video they'd seen at the seminar a few weeks ago had made its way to Brecon Beacons as a prime example of how not to handle civilian involvement of operations-emergency or otherwise.

"In school," Fox replied offhandedly. "Well, Cub is at least, there's no telling if Accomplice is." Wolf snorted at the truth in that.

"They'd have called if he wasn't," he told them. "He's on academic probation."

"Since when?" Snake asked, surprised.

"Since he failed gym class," Wolf replied.

"How do you fail gym?" Puma asked more than a little confused but not nearly as confused as the other members of K-Unit.

"Especially when you're the star football player," Eagle added. Wolf shrugged. He'd yelled at the kid about it and all he'd gotten in response was a sarcastic remark and a lot of eye-rolling at his supposed 'dramatics'. The soldier had simply informed the kid that if the grades weren't better by the end of the year he was calling the school and pulling him off the team. Tom had nearly combusted on the spot but Wolf didn't care. There was no excuse for the horrible grades Tom had. He knew the kid was smart. His code had experts scratching their heads and his manipulation skills required more than the average intelligence. The boy was capable but lazy and Wolf refused to tolerate laziness in him.

"Kid's crazy," Snake mumbled jokingly and scrunched his face in such a way that Wolf knew he was trying not to scratch at the burns. The skin was beginning to grow back making the injuries itch like mad.

"What about you Puma?" Wolf asked. "You got anyone at home?" The new guy nodded and swallowed before answering.

"Yeah, my girlfriend and her kid," he said.

"Yeah?" Fox inquired interested in the mundane topic. "How old?"

"Three," the man told them. "Little girl. She keeps us on our toes."

"Wait till she's older," Eagle said with a bright smile. "You'll never have a moments peace." Snake sent him a pointed look at that. "What? Teenagers are hard."

"You've only been in that house for, what? Ten, eleven months tops?" Fox asked with a smirk that said he was silently making fun of the other soldier.

"Dear God," Eagle replied looking a bit forlorn. "It hasn't even been a year? It feels like it's been a decade."

"Amen to that," Wolf said and they all joined him in laughter. Despite them only being in their respective situations for less than a year, Wolf felt as if it had been longer than that. He knew it was the opposite of what they were technically supposed to be feeling like. That parenting book Jack had forced him to read said that he was supposed to be wondering where the time had gone, not why it was moving at a snail's pace. Maybe it was because Tom and Alex lived a little faster than most teens.

Alex had already been through a career-a successful and stressful one at that. Tom had been through more than most teens with a death in the family, a violent divorce, an even more violent rebound, and the complications that a person like Alex brought. But both boys had weathered it pretty well in Wolf's opinion. The conversation shifted at that point and Wolf's thoughts were interrupted by Puma's next question.

"How do you think things will change now that the Americans have killed Bin Laden?" he asked before he took another bite of his fish sandwich. The news had just broken that morning and while it had been somewhat of a surprise, it was one they really shouldn't have been surprised about. Wolf had had no clue about it until he'd walked into the living room and found Tom sitting up on the sofa bed and watching the news, something he never watched.

Tom had looked at him and had asked pretty much the same question Puma had. _How does this affect the job?_ And he'd given pretty much the same answer as Snake gave Puma.

"I'm sure nothing will change all that much," Snake said, unconcerned. "We'll still have more work than we do soldiers." Puma nodded in agreement.

"It's been a long time coming though," Eagle replied.

"It's kind of strange," Fox added. "He's been such a big deal for such a long time. And now it's over."

"At least the Americans can move on now," Eagle said referring to the attacks that had taken place almost a decade ago. "Well, they can move on a little more."

"So can we," Fox said reminding them of the attacks that had taken place on their own soil throughout the years. "Did you see the picture the White House posted on the Internet?"

"The one of the situation room?" Wolf asked and when he received a nod of affirmation he continued. "Yes, I did. I don't think anyone has ever seen Obama look like that."

"Hmm," Puma hummed in agreement. "No kidding. Kudos though, to the Seals."

"They did good," Snake said. "That's for sure. We should request a team-up with that Unit next time we work with the Yanks."

"Yeah," Fox replied offhandedly and then changed the subject again. "Did you guys here about that up and coming anti-abortionist bomber?"

"The one that walked right into that clinic?' Eagle asked. "I heard the place didn't even do abortions."

"They didn't," Fox said. "News said they handed out birth control to teenagers and that was about as far as the controversy went."

"Then what was he blowing up?" Puma asked.

"Don't know," Fox told him with a shrug.

"Speaking of misplaced bombs," Wolf said, "did you guys here about J-Unit's brush with SCORPIA?"

"Yeah," Snake replied. "I talked to Lion the other day. He was still in hospital but he's supposed to be out by the end of next month."

"Is he gonna make it back?" Eagle asked.

"Probably not," Snake said with a sad shake of the head. "He said his leg was pretty messed up. I don't think all the PT in the world will get him fit enough for the field."

"Damn," Fox said with a low whistle. "Too bad. He was a great soldier."

"That he was," Wolf said. The meal continued on in much the same way as they went from subject to subject concerning their various dealings with terrorists, enemy armies, frustrating intelligence services, the Royal wedding detail they'd worked (there was a general consensus that it had been a complete waste of their talents especially since some of the soldiers had been pulled out mid-job to stand on a sidewalk and look scary), and ultimately landed on that last Mother's Day.

"I almost completely forgot," Eagle said. "The Americans have it almost a month later than we do so Jack forgot to remind me too." They laughed generously at the man's memory lapse and the trouble it might have caused if he really had forgotten. Wolf had never met Eagle's mother but based on how Eagle described her he wasn't sure he wanted to.

He'd spent the day with his mother, of course, while Tom had gone to visit his own. The woman had been disappointed that she still couldn't meet the boy but had ultimately accepted the explanation he'd given. He could tell she was the only one though. Everyone in his family was more little curious about Tom and the situation in general. Wolf hadn't-or couldn't-give them too many details but he'd been able to satisfy their curiosity for the moment.

By the time the check had arrived, they had agreed to meet again that Friday at the Rider home for dinner. They were usually at the Rider home for Friday night dinner. Fox's fiancé, Sarah, had also become a regular and she and Jack had quickly become friends. Wolf liked her; she was a sweet girl and she brought out the best in his friend. He was excited for the wedding which was set to happen about a month from then, in June. He'd already made Tom promise that there would be no escapades or chaos of any sort.

Wolf made it home about an hour before Tom did and rolled his eyes at the mess his living room was in. The kid didn't usually take the time to put the sofa back together before he left for school and the result was a cramped room and a bed with blankets and pillows haphazardly strewn about. Wolf always felt a bit guilty when he saw the scene. He was saving up for a bigger flat, one with two bedrooms, and at the moment he was just waiting for the lease to expire next August.

Not bothering to try and put the room in order, the soldier simply kicked off his shoes and made himself comfortable on the bed as he searched the telly for something at least halfway decent. By the time the kid walked through the door Wolf was watching some ridiculous made-for-TV movie, nearly falling asleep on Tom's surprisingly comfortable pillow with the kid's Batman fleece blanket draped over his legs.

"That's my bed," the kid said with a smirk as he dropped his backpack and kicked off his trainers.

"Its technically my couch," Wolf retorted.

"Whatever," Tom replied. "What are you watching?"

"I have no idea," the soldier replied. "Do you have homework?" The boy scowled but knew better than to lie. Because of the probation, the school was sending Wolf weekly reports. They'd originally been going to the boy's parents which had been how the teen had managed to hide it for a few weeks.

"I finished on my free period," Tom told him. "Alex helped me." Wolf just grunted, glad he wouldn't have to move. Tom was easily distracted and if the kid had homework then Wolf would be banished to his own room. "Why are you so sleepy?"

"Just am," the man replied not really wanting to try to explain the concept of wind down time to someone as hyperactive as his ward. "Since you don't have homework you should watch something with me."

"Like what?" Tom asked perking up at the prospect of being completely unproductive and not being chastised for it by his strict, military-minded roommate. Wolf shrugged.

"Pick a movie," he said and the kid took to the task with glee. Four and a half Harry Potter movies and one large pizza later the both of them were asleep. And when he woke up the next morning to a snoring teen, Wolf couldn't help but think that this was exactly why he signed up for the Army in the first place. It felt good to fight for home.

* * *

"I'm home!"

"Hi honey!"

Fox followed the sound of the shout and the muffled bangs and such to the kitchen of the small home he shared with his future wife, Sarah. He could still hardly believe that not only was he getting married but he was the first in the Unit to do so as well. When he entered the room he saw her baking. What it was he didn't know but she was baking and that was all that mattered.

"How are the boys?" she asked pleasantly, her smile wide and happy like it normally was. Her short brown hair had been pulled back but there were several strands that fell loose to fall back into her almond colored eyes.

"Good," he replied.

"And the new guy?" she inquired as curious as the rest of the families about Snake's replacement.

"He's good," he told her. "I think he'll fit right in for the most part."

"Oh good," she said, relieved that her soon-to-be husband wouldn't be jetting off around the world with a man in his unit that could get him killed.

"How was your day?" he asked hopping up onto the counter to watch as she moved around with more grace than Jack could ever muster up. But then, Jack wasn't particularly fond of cooking. Something about feminism and if he was hungry he should learn how to operate the damn stove himself. He didn't envy Eagle.

"It was fine," she said. "I'm so glad I took the week off to finalize things for the wedding. I can't imagine how stressful it would be to do all that _and_ work. Which reminds me, I need you to come down to the baker's and help me pick out the cake." He scowled at that and she caught it. "Yes, I know you hate cake. Really, who hates cake?"

"I got really sick off of it once when I was a kid," he said. "I haven't been able to touch it since."

"Well, then," she said looking as if she had the perfect solution. "Bring Alex and Tom along. I'm sure they'd _love _to help." Fox couldn't help but laugh at that knowing just how much both boys would love to help with such an important wedding task.

"And have Rey murder me when I bring back an even _more_ hyper Tom?" he asked sarcastically and she giggled at the thought of the dark soldier's face.

"Ben!" she exclaimed but it just wasn't very forceful due to the laughter. "Somebody needs to come with me! If I do it all by myself I won't be able to fit in the dress."

"That's okay," he said with a smirk. "Just go naked." She didn't much appreciate that suggestion and chased him out of her kitchen with the batter-covered wooden spoon in her hand. He laughed all the way to the living room where he settled down for the afternoon trying to find something to watch though there was nothing truly worthy on it. About an hour later he gave up completely and went to go find Sarah so he could continue to annoy her.

He loved these quiet moments. It reminded him why he signed up for the job in the first place. He was glad to fight for her.

* * *

"Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake, Jake, Jak-"

"Tom!" Snake said loudly, cutting off the continuous flow of his name from the already hyper boy. "What?"

"You look like you've playing with the stove again," the boy said trying to make light of Snake's burned face.

"You look like you've been into the sugary cereal again," the soldier replied referring to the boy's jittery smile. He was practically buzzing from energy and Snake was expecting the kid to suddenly dart off down the hall of the Rider home to get into some sort of trouble. Tom had yet to see him after the explosion but Snake hadn't expected any sort of blatant sympathy.

"Tom!"

Snake heard Alex call his friend from somewhere deeper in the house and the soldier watched as the boy took off at a dead run.

"Don't run in the house!" Jack shouted from the living room and Snake followed the sound of her voice. She and Eagle were lounging around the living room watching some random television program.

"Hello," he greeted knowing he was drastically early for the dinner but was unwilling to sit alone in his flat for another three hours.

"Oh good," Jack said relieved to see him as he knew she would be. He was the only one willing to help her cook the large meal she was expected to prepare. "You're here. How are you sweetie?"

"I'm fine," he replied. She had taken to constantly asking him how he was and it wasn't because he was walking around looking like Two-Face. Fox and Eagle were the luckiest of the group; it was very hard to find someone who was willing to do what the spouse of an SAS soldier needed to do. They needed to be willing to never ask or know where they were at any given moment. They couldn't ask about their work; they couldn't ask about their coworkers or their bosses or their jobs. And they had to understand that when the work mobile rung they had to answer, no matter what may or may not be happening. It was hard and required a lot of sacrifice on the family's part. Most couldn't cut it and if it wasn't meant to be there was no chance of it working.

Snake's last girlfriend had left him just before the explosion. It hadn't been a very good break up. But probably the worst part was having Tom and Alex witness one of the worst fights he'd had with her. The two boys had been over to pick up a few borrowed DVDs when the two adults had erupted. By the time it was over Wolf had been called, the bookshelf was broken, and her clothes had been thrown out the window and spread all over the building's lawn.

"How's PT going?" Eagle asked.

"It's fine," Snake replied. "The burns are healing and the doctor said my shoulder should be okay before they're even ready to start the psyche eval."

"That's great!" Jack exclaimed genuinely happy that he would be okay and back on the job in a relatively quick amount of time. Soon enough the two of them were cooking which was where Wolf, Fox, and Sarah found them when they finally arrived with Puma. The dinner went well considering that they were all sitting at the same table, something that didn't usually happen without some sort of chaos ensuing. The teens didn't pay much attention to Puma but Snake knew that would change when they weren't in a large group.

Also by the time they'd finished eating Tom was too full to do anything more than nod off in Alex's bed and the ex-spy was practically asleep on the couch.

Once the sleepiness had more or less worn off Snake left for his quiet and empty flat. It wasn't the quiet that bothered him, it was the emptiness. He hated it. Hated the loneliness that the emptiness brought with it. K-Unit was the closest thing he had to a family and he knew it would be even harder to see them go without him. He wasn't surprised to find out the next morning that K-Unit was gone. He'd never before been left behind and he didn't like it at all. He prayed for them.

* * *

Eagle had to help Wolf wake Tom up, a difficult task at the best of times. It took nearly ten minutes of random poking from Wolf and Eagle sticking two pens up the kid's nostrils but they finally got him up and out of bed. It hadn't been the most mature thing on their part but sometimes it was just fun to act like a five-year-old. The night ended pretty calmly considering they had five soldiers, an ex-spy, and a crazy person all at the same table for a few hours. But Jack had enjoyed herself by talking with Sarah about the upcoming wedding.

"I still need help with the cake," the brunette had confided. "Ben won't touch it."

"Take the boys," Jack told her. "They'll be happy to help."

Eagle hoped to be out of the country for that particular sugar high. But for right now Tom was gone and Alex was snoring on the couch where'd he'd dropped after the meal. So Eagle commenced in his second teenage wake up for the night. Jack was already in bed and Eagle didn't have the heart to leave the kid on the couch.

"Alex," he said as he shook the kid's shoulder. The kid mumbled something and rolled over to put his back to the man. Eagle just sat on him.

"Ooff!" Alex opened his eyes with a grunt and twisted his head to glare at the soldier using him as chair. "Get. Off. Me."

"You need to sleep in your own bed," Eagle said with a smirk. "You look like a drunkard snoring here on the couch."

"Get off Andy!" the boy just whined, dropping his face back down into the cushions. The man opened his mouth to reply with something really snarky when he felt his mobile start vibrating in his back pocket. Alex felt it too and stiffened, knowing exactly what it meant.

Eagle stood and answered.

"Eagle."

He was not surprised to be ordered onto a plane by the end of the hour. Nor was he surprised to find Alex sitting up and fully alert, probably trying to hear the voice on the other end. Often times they weren't allowed to know where K-Unit was or get to talk to them when they were gone. The only time they had had both privileges was when the soldiers had an extended mission in Afghanistan. The work they were doing hadn't been classified just difficult.

"Are you leaving?" Alex asked rubbing some of the sleep from his eyes.

"Yeah, will you-?"

"Yes," Alex interrupted. "I'll let your Dad know you won't make lunch tomorrow."

"Are you a spy or a psychic?" Eagle responded with a smirk.

"I have many hats," Alex replied with his own little smirk. He accepted the hand Eagle extended him and didn't resist as the man tugged him up onto his feet and into a brief, friendly hug.

"Don't give Jack a hard time," he ordered and slapped Alex's shoulder as he released the boy.

"You've got the wrong person," Alex replied. "You're thinking of Tom."

Eagle just rolled his eyes and went upstairs to gather his things and say goodbye to Jack. Despite the general craziness that occurred in and around the Rider home, Eagle truly did love the place and he knew he was going to miss it. Even Alex's snarky remarks and Jack's clumsiness. But he pushed it out of mind and focused on the next job. It was going to be a tricky one.

* * *

So I have a dilemma. Should the next chapter be the super funny one or the super dramatic one? Please let me know or I'm going to flip a coin!


	18. Baby Daddies

Tom and Alex were prone to craziness. This was a fact almost as irrefutable as the fact that gravity made things fall. People learned to live with it or they distanced themselves from it. But no matter what the reaction to the kooky schemes and odd occurrences almost everyone was amused at one point or another. Even if it was only in hindsight.

Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if Alex hadn't once been MI6's top agent. Or perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if someone had thought to have Tom tested for ADHD long before Wolf ever came into the picture. But both of these things played a major role in their day-to-day lives even with Alex a permanent civilian and Tom on the right medications.

There were just some situations that couldn't be avoided when you were growing up with as many secrets as they did. Alex and Tom had pasts that no teenager should have and they weathered it all pretty well. Tom at least still knew how to act as a normal teenager. Alex made a gallant effort and on some days he found himself nearly forgetting he had ever been a spy, but he was ultimately reminded when he caught himself peering over his shoulder or trying to read someone's lips.

It made for some awkward situations from time to time. These situations were certainly not helped by Tom who had suddenly taken to denying rumors about Alex by making up even crazier ones. At least their classmates thought they were crazy. Alex didn't much appreciate Tom spreading a rumor that Alex had an evil twin hell bent on world domination. Even if no one believed it, it was annoying.

Despite all the weirdness surrounding them and their favorite bunch of soldiers, at the end of the day Alex and Tom were still teenagers. They were still growing up and trying to come into their own. It was stressful at times, given their pasts, but for others it was downright amusing. Because as we all know, many of the aches and pains of growing up were funnier for the adults than they ever would be for the kids.

* * *

"I can't believe we have to do this," Alex mumbled as he glared at the dark plastic figure he was holding at arm's length. By the look on his face, Tom believed that his friend thought the electronic baby doll was going to suddenly come alive and eat him.

"Everyone has to at some point Alex," Tom reminded him, his own baby doll cradled in the nook of his arm. "It's just another embarrassing part of health class."

They were, of course, talking about their latest health class assignment. Mrs. Wilshoe had suddenly decided that were far too many teen pregnancies in the world and had taken it upon herself to encourage them all to not have children at fifteen years old. The electronic baby simulators had arrived at the school last week in a horrible blue and pink delivery truck.

The class was given their little simulator of joy the following Friday along with a lecture on why you should never shake a baby. Each doll came complete with fake diapers, bottles, and a carrier. Mrs. Wilshoe had also told them that there was a small monitor inside that would record any type of 'neglect'. If such a thing happened they would fail the assignment.

Alex had already decided that this would be an absolutely horrible weekend. The dolls were going to be turned on at five o'clock and wouldn't be deactivated until seven Monday morning. The blond was fully prepared for screaming, burping, and general baby unpleasantness. It looked to him as if he was the only one, but then he was much more of a realist than his classmates. Tom looked excited. Alex wanted to hit him.

"Rider!" Mrs. Wilshoe suddenly snapped and he jumped nearly dropping the baby doll in the process. He managed to catch it by its plastic foot before it hit the ground. The teacher glared at him. "Don't drop the baby!"

Alex grimaced at the near screech and replied, "But it isn't even activated yet."

"I don't care," she told him. "There is more to raising a baby than simply the physical care. There is also the emotional care. Look at how Mr. Harris is holding his child. I want all of you to try to connect with your babies over the weekend so that you can fully understand the physical and emotional lengths young parents go to in raising children."

Most just stared at her as if she had finally lost her mind. Everyone knew that Tom's tender loving care didn't stem from any sort of paternal instinct but from a deep seated need to embrace everything and everyone. Their classmate had sniffed out a personal challenge in this assignment and he'd be damned if he was going to fail. Besides, Tom had recently spent five months babysitting a two-year-old in order to get close to the hot girl who lived next door. Everyone in the classroom was also aware of _that_, except, it seemed, Mrs. Wilshoe.

"It's a plastic doll," Alex said, feeling the need to argue for some unseemly reason. It was rare for him to ever challenge the teacher but this assignment was quickly approaching ridiculous. He didn't want to 'take care' of a doll as if it were a real baby. He already knew being a teenaged parent sucked. He'd seen those reality shows.

"It's your baby," Mrs. Wilshoe stressed, her eyes narrowing at him as if he had just claimed that he'd forgotten the baby in the car on a hot day.

"It's plastic," he reiterated. "If I promise not have sex until I'm thirty can I be excused from this assignment?" The question startled a round of riotous laughter from his classmates. Alex Rider wasn't known for being a class clown but his rarely seen humor had been known to shock a laugh from teachers and classmates alike. It never ceased to surprise them that the mysterious boy had a sense of humor, however buried it was.

Mrs. Wilshoe was eventually able to sputter out a response looking as if she herself was torn between laughing and throwing him in detention. The bell rang soon enough and everyone quickly made their escape.

* * *

Tom met Alex by his locker after school that day. The shorter boy had been carrying his plastic doll with him all day as if he truly was a proud new father. Alex found it annoying but the field hockey girls found it adorable. Such a reaction was exactly what Tom had intended.

Alex on the other hand had stuffed the doll and the carrier into the janitor's closet just opposite his locker. He would have put them both in the actual locker but it was too small.

"Where's your baby?" Tom asked. Alex jabbed a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the location of his plastic nuisance. Tom immediately scolded him. "Alex! You can't keep a baby in the janitors closet!"

"It's not real Tom," Alex replied in a rather bored and tired tone of voice.

"You shouldn't say that about your child," Tom huffed and then stormed over the janitor's closet to rescue the poor piece of plastic. Alex ignored him.

The ex-spy continued exchanging his books and gathering his homework for that night. By the time he slammed his locker shut and turned around Tom had a carrier in each hand. To Alex, he looked completely ridiculous. Tom was so short that the bottoms of the carriers were actually brushing the tiled floor. The carriers were donations to the school and thus one was a hideous shade of yellow and the other was nearly falling apart. The two plastic babies were wrapped up in small, ratty looking blankets. Alex couldn't help but flashback to primary school when Cindy Hansen forced Tom to play house with her in exchange for not tattling about what they now called the Tadpole Debacle.

It was then that Alex realized the truth behind that old, corny saying: the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. He almost felt guilty for stuffing the plastic doll in the closet. Almost.

* * *

"ALEX!"

He ignored the shout and the screaming plastic monster sitting next to him on the couch. It had only been active for a half hour and already it was driving Jack completely insane. Tom had taken his up to the room he now shared with Alex when Wolf was away. _His_ doll was perfectly content to make gurgling noises.

"Why did you have to do this assignment again?" Jack asked. She stomped her way into the living room looking disgruntled and put out. Normally she loved children, even the really small and whiny ones, but Jack wasn't looking forward to have two somewhat crazy teenagers trying to look after two horrible plastic babies. She could see her relaxing weekend leaving her quicker than a deadbeat.

"It's a part of my health class," Alex responded. "I tried to get out of it but Tom kind of blocked me."

"Why must he look at everything like it's some sort of personal challenge?" she asked loudly, trying to be heard over the wailing plastic monster. "Alex! Shut that thing up!"

"I don't know how!" he said just as loudly.

"Then go upstairs and give it to Tom!" she replied. "He shut his up!"

"He's insane," Alex replied.

"I need to talk to you," Jack said deciding that continuing this argument wasn't going to do much of anything.

"Can we talk later?" Alex asked, finally turning to the wailing 'baby' and picking it up. Not that he knew what to do beyond stand there with it in his hands and look at Jack pleadingly. She rolled her eyes and held out her hands for the doll. Pretending it was real, she went through the motions of calming down an hysterical infant and soon enough the thing gurgled and lapsed into silence.

Looking up, she found that Alex was gone. She sighed and resolved to ground him for ditching his homework project on her.

* * *

By the next morning, Alex was ready to kill not only Tom but both of the plastic little heathens in their midst. The dolls went off nearly every two hours if they were lucky. The biggest problem was that if one of them went off it would trigger the other one. With Alex and Tom having to share a room and both dolls in the same location, the annoyance was twice as bad.

Not to mention that Alex was pretty sure his plastic child hated him. The thing just did not want to shut up and by sunrise, neither boy had slept more than an hour or two. This was by far the worst assignment Alex had ever had to endure and he was starting to have serious doubts as to if he would pass. He was very close to just removing the batteries and taking a failing grade.

"Alex," Jack said as she shook his shoulder. The teen's head snapped back up from where it had been falling into his cereal. The unpleasant snort that came from him as he came back to awareness went unnoticed. "You have to take care of the baby."

He heard the distant wail of the plastic howler monkey and groaned. He was unused to staying awake this long. It had been awhile since he was a spy and there was no prevailing danger around to keep him from realizing how sleepy he was.

"Why won't it shut up?" he whined, closing his eyes momentarily as if that would make everything quiet again. Tom was sitting across from him, looking just as tired, but with a quiet, inert doll in his lap.

"Maybe it's sick," Tom suggested.

"It's not a real baby," Alex snapped.

"You must have just gotten the one programmed to be fussy," Jack said. "Go take care of it. I've already done enough of your project."

"I don't see why I have to do this," Alex grumbled as he stood up. "I haven't even had sex."

"Keep it that way!" Jack shouted after him as he disappeared from view. He rolled his eyes. Up in his room, the ex-spy just held the screaming _thing_ as he sat on the edge of his bed. Tom had taken the top bed in the bunk bed they had set up in Alex's room. It was brand new but with Tom staying with Wolf for longer than they had thought, it was worth the purchase.

The baby howled for nearly ten minutes before Alex figured he might as well pretend to change the diaper. Going through the motions, he could barely do it right. Whether his ineptitude came from a lack of experience or a lack of sleep was left to be decided. He figured it was a mixture of both. He really did hate this assignment.

Alex went through several baby-care movements including using the fake bottle that came with the doll to fake feed his fake baby. Nothing worked.

"Ugh!" he grunted his patience coming to an end. He'd just take the fail. Taking off the little shirt he made quick work of removing the battery cover and then ripping out the batteries. The silence was sudden and nearly as loud as the baby howls had been. He had never in his life appreciated silence as much as he did now.

"Alex! Did you kill your baby?"

"Shut up, Tom!"

* * *

When K-Unit finally made it back into the country it was a Sunday afternoon. Eagle was looking forward to spending the rest of the night with Jack and Alex, eating a real meal and watching the telly. Wolf just wanted to get the kid and go home to sleep. Their last mission had been exhausting and everyone had been injured in some way. Puma had done well but it hadn't been the same as having Snake there.

When they were together, the four of them were unbeatable. They could read each other's minds, predict one another's next move, and ultimately work as one fluid body. They were good; they were close. It was hard to leave one of their own behind.

Entering the house, Wolf was very aware of the dull quiet that permeated through the air. It confused him momentarily. Jack had assured them not twenty minutes ago that both boys were home and yet there was no loud chatter, no mysterious thumps, and no sounds of gunfire coming from a video game. He was half inclined to pull out his gun for, surely, nothing good could have happened to keep the house this quiet.

Both soldiers walked cautiously into the house and moved towards the living room, half expecting Scorpia agents to come barreling out of closets and from behind corners. Complete and utter relief flooded through them when they saw Snake on the couch, his booted feet on the coffee table, crossed at the ankles, and the telly turned to a soap opera but with the sound so low the man had to lip read in order to know what was happening. His hands were in the pocket of his old, army green hoodie.

The soldier's burns were healing nicely but he still looked in a bad way. Wolf doubted the man's face would ever look the same. In one of the reclining chairs was Alex, asleep, and with his limbs going every direction. He looked exhausted.

"What's going on?" Eagle asked quietly and Snake looked up from his show only just noticing they were there. He smiled and quickly stood to give each of them a quick hug of welcome.

"He and Tom had a really...long project this weekend," Snake told them, smirking just slightly. Wolf grunted, not caring and quickly dropped into the other arm chair, reclining so far he was nearly laying flat. Eagle was a little more curious but was unable to continue prying when Jack came into the room. She gave a remarkably quiet squeal and enveloped him in a hug. This was the best part of coming home and he would have stayed like that for awhile had it not been for the sudden howl of an infant.

Both Eagle's and Wolf's head snapped around towards the stairs where Tom appeared, holding a screaming plastic doll at arm's length and looking ready to cry.

"I tried," he said loudly, and Eagle could hear him hold back a sob. The teen looked just as exhausted as Alex who rolled over to try to block out the screams. "I thought I could but I couldn't! It just won't stop." The short teen managed to hand the doll to Jack before he turned and fell over the arm of the chair into Wolf's lap.

"Oof!" the soldier grunted. Tom ignored his guardian's obvious discomfort and wriggled around until he was smashed in between Wolf's side and the arm of the chair.

"What is going on?" Eagle asked, also raising his voice to be heard over the toy. He was almost afraid to ask but was too curious not to.

"It's for their health class," Jack told them as she went about calming the thing. "They were both given a baby simulator to take care of for the weekend."

"Where's Alex's?" Wolf asked.

"He killed it," Jack said and then proceeded to stifle her laughter at the two men's faces. "I'm kidding. He pulled the battery out." By this time she had managed to mostly quiet the doll which had allowed Alex to fall back asleep.

"Rough time of it?" Wolf asked jokingly, using his shoulder to bump Tom.

"I'm never having sex again," the boy mumbled in reply. Wolf's eyes widened and then narrowed.

"Again?" he growled.

"I mean I'm never having it all," Tom backtracked realizing he may have said way too much. "I'm a virgin. I promise!"

"Uh, huh," Wolf replied. "If you _ever _come back with a real baby, I'll make you take care of it by yourself."

"Nuh."

The conversation was never broached again. Wolf didn't last more than an hour with Tom's school project before he kidnapped it and pulled the batteries out. He was tired and sore. He needed quiet. He did, however, explain to the bemused teacher what had happened. He then proceeded to inform her that she was never to assign such a noisy assignment again. And that was an order, not a suggestion.

Break

"Alex, I need to talk to you," Jack said, poking the teen in his shoulder as he continued to nap on the chair.

"Mm," was the only reply she got.

"Alex, wake up," she persisted. "It's important." The teen didn't move and she eventually just gave up and left him where he was. Upstairs in their bedroom, Eagle was already laying in bed and trying not to fall asleep too early.

"Did you tell him?" he asked.

"Not yet," she replied. "It was a crazy weekend."

"You need to tell him," he said.

"I will," Jack told him. "I'll tell him tomorrow. Promise."

"I can tell him," he offered knowing that it probably wouldn't be easy on her.

"He's my kid. I'll tell him," was her firm and ultimately final reply. He didn't say anything more on the matter. He was worried of course, how could he not be? This was a serious problem. If they couldn't get rid of it and _him_, their lives could come crumbling around them.

He'd think of something.


	19. Helter Skelter

Did you know that they actually make 5 million volt tasers? Ow.

* * *

Tom had always hated Mondays but this Monday would perhaps be the worst he'd ever had. He had been perfectly content on his little pull out couch in Wolf's living room when all of the sudden the soldier was standing over him, roughly shaking his shoulder and demanding that he wake up. Tom was rudely awakened from his very nice dream of a Gryffindor/Slytherin dance off in the stone hallways of Hogwarts and opened his bleary eyes to the man. In his limited amount of consciousness he was able to see that it was still dark outside. And not pre-dawn dark either. Deep, dark, middle of the night dark.

"You need to get up," the man said. His worried tone probably did more for Tom's exhaustion than a double shot of espresso ever could. Wolf never sounded worried. Only angry, frustrated, tired, and sometimes happy if you were extremely lucky.

"Wha' 'appen?" Tom mumbled trying to sit up. Wolf simply pulled him up by the arm.

"We need to leave," the man said and then proceeded to force Tom's head into his pullover hoodie. The one with his football number on the back and the SAS logo on the front. It was Tom's favorite and Alex had had it custom made for him a few months ago. It annoyed Wolf, who thought Tom might be taking a risk wearing such a thing in public.

"Why?" Tom asked, putting his arms through the sleeves and straitening the piece of clothing out. Wolf moved about the room stuffing semi-clean clothes into a rucksack.

"Put your shoes on," he ordered and Tom followed the order knowing that now probably wasn't the time to argue. Even his lack of respect for authority was no match for an SAS guardian fleeing their flat in the middle of the night. Something horrible must have happened.

"What's going on Rey?" Tom asked forcefully, his sleepiness forgotten and fear starting to settle in. He didn't like this, not at all. Wolf looked up at the forceful use of his name. Tom rarely called him Rey. He usually called him Wolf, Wolfie-Daddy, or nothing at all. Tom could see the soldier wrestling with his answer, even in the dark.

"Something's happened," the soldier finally replied.

"What?" Tom asked, thoroughly disheartened by the man's reluctance to just tell him. Wolf had never held back bad news. He thought it was better to just blurt it out and get it over with, even if such a thing was untactful. "Alex?"

"We need to leave," Wolf said again, and continued throwing things into his rucksack before he zipped it up and threw it over his shoulder. He then gestured for Tom to come closer. "Come on."

But Tom couldn't move. Wolf's lack of answer told him everything he needed to know. Something had happened. He didn't know what. He needed to know. Wolf probably would have just taken him by the arm again in order to make him move but the man never got the chance.

_BANG!_

Tom jumped horribly at the sound and he turned in time to see the front door bend awkwardly where the door latch was. Someone was trying to break it down.

Wolf didn't hesitate. He grabbed the teen by the arm and forcibly dragged him into his bedroom and then into the closet. Tearing things off the lone shelf he eventually unveiled the one part of the flat Tom had never seen before. The attic entrance.

The building used to be a single family home and the attic still existed. The roof had been too low to convert it into another level of flats and so they had closed it up. It didn't surprise Tom to know that the entrance just happened to be in Wolf's bedroom. He also wasn't surprised to see that it was no longer a sealed entrance. The door was knocked away fairly easily and Wolf stuffed the rucksack inside.

_BANG!_

Tom had the wood splinter even from back there but it didn't sound like the sturdy front door had given in. Not with all the deadbolts Wolf had on it. They'd need a battering ram to break it down and while it sounded like they had one it still wasn't easy to break in. Tom had never felt so grateful for Wolf's intense paranoia. Not that he had any idea what was going on.

"Come on," the soldier said, turning to Tom with interlocked fingers and a clear sign that he was about to give the teen a boost into the attic. Tom stepped into Wolf's hands and allowed himself to be easily lifted into the dark hole that he was dearly hoping the Grudge wasn't in as well. Tom quickly maneuvered himself around so that he could see back out.

"Whatever you hear," Wolf said. "Don't come out."

"Wait, what about you?" Tom asked nearly panicking when he realized Wolf wasn't about to climb in there with him.

"I need you to trust me Tom," Wolf said. "Find the door." Tom could feel it under his leg and quickly dragged it out from under himself. "Do you have it?"

Tom nodded.

"Wolf," he began.

"Put it back in," Wolf told him. "It's going to be really dark, but whatever you do you can't shine a light in there. Okay?"

"Wait," Tom started again.

_BANG!_

"Tom! Do as I say right now. Put the door back in. Everything will be fine. I promise. I'll come get you soon."

Tom knew it was lie. He'd been in enough danger to know the man was just trying to calm him down but he didn't understand what was happening. Why wasn't Wolf following him into the attic?

_BANG!_

But there was no time for any more questions and Tom knew it. He nodded. And with the soldier's last promise in his head and shoved the attic door back into place, throwing himself into complete blackness. A few seconds later he heard rustling from just on the other side and he could clearly picture Wolf piling things back onto the closet shelf.

_BANG!_

There was noise, a shout, and then a new, absolutely terrifying sound.

A gunshot.

* * *

_**Two Hours Earlier**_

For some reason it was cold. Eagle couldn't pinpoint why. He was a little too exhausted to think clearly. The only thing he wanted was to get back into bed after his nightly trip to the kitchen for a glass of water. Why he couldn't leave water by his bed _before _he fell asleep even he didn't know.

In his semi-consciousness at one in the morning he could register enough to know that something was off in the upstairs hallway. It was cold. It shouldn't have been. They always kept these windows shut and the heat was on. His curiosity quickly began to override his sleepiness as he pinpointed the breath of cold air to Alex's room. The boy always slept with the window tightly shut and the door wide open.

But tonight it seemed to be the other way around. The door was nearly shut and very, very cold air was creeping out through the cracks. Something was wrong. He could feel it. Eagle quietly set his glass of water down on the little table that sat between his door and Alex's. He then reached into the planter to pull out the military grade 1 million volt taser he kept hidden between the stems of the ivy plant. Jack thought him ridiculous but between him and Alex there were just too many enemies.

He had a horrible feeling that their measures to make _him_ go away for good was just too little too late. But could _he_ be _here_? It seemed impossible. And yet, Alex's door was nearly shut and his window was clearly open. The boy was near OCD about his sleeping habits and any apparent deviation was cause for worry.

Weapon in hand he took a single step towards the door and paused. He listened intently. He knew the sounds of Alex's sleep. The kid had a tendency to fall asleep on the couch once nine-thirty came and went. Especially on the week nights and even more especially after Tom had been over for a few days. Eagle was trained to pay attention to details. Alex's sleep patterns happened to be one of those things your training didn't let you fully ignore.

The kid would let out a small snore every fifth exhale, every third if he was congested. It took Alex almost half a minute to breathe in and out five times in his sleep. Eagle counted to forty-five just to be sure. No snore. Something was wrong.

He gently poked the door out of his way. Letting it fall open almost silently.

The bed was empty.

The window was open.

Someone was leaving through that open window.

That someone was too big to be Alex.

It took Eagle nearly five seconds to fully process what his sleep sore eyes were telling him. He didn't hesitate.

He fired and the taser's two lines found their mark. The man screamed, jolted and jerked as one million volts of electricity ran through his body. Eagle watched as the intruder fell forward, out of the window, and away from the taser's reach. The soldier didn't wait around to hear the thud as his body hit the ground. He ran for all he was worth, down the hallway, down the stairs, through the living room, and out the front door. He was on the front lawn in seconds and just in time to see another man running full pelt towards a car.

Eagle ran after him, barely even feeling the frozen grass on his bare feet. Whoever the man was, he wasn't a powerful runner and Eagle was diving towards his legs soon enough. The soldier made contact and the black clad intruder went down. The soldier quickly climbed back to his feet to keep his advantage and let loose with a hard punch to man's head. He felt cartilage give out and even in the near darkness of the street he could tell that the intruder's nose was horribly broken. The man screamed and Eagle let loose with yet another punch. This time no noise came from the man and he went completely limp.

But Eagle heard the roar of an engine and he could do nothing but watch as the black SUV sped up over the curb, across the sidewalk, and onto the lawn. The last thing he saw as the vehicle ran him down was the blinding light of headlamps and the dark shadows of two people inside.

* * *

Tom didn't know how long he'd been in the attic. The space felt small to him and he was sure that most of the attic was still closed off to him but he didn't dare explore for fear of being lost in the darkness and he didn't dare search the rucksack for any sort of light. Not even after everything had fallen silent. He didn't know what had happened to Wolf.

There had only been a few gunshots and then complete silence. He couldn't even hear voices. But Wolf hadn't come for him, which meant something was wrong. What if the soldier was lying on the living room floor bleeding to death? What if he was already dead? Tom couldn't stop himself from thinking such things even though he was desperate not to.

Wolf had told him not to move, not to turn on a light. But the darkness was beginning to crush down on him and he was sure that the longer he spent in his hiding place the more he'd worry and panic. But what if someone dangerous was still out there? Wolf had told him not to move, that he would come get him and at the moment that was all Tom had to hang on to.

He remembered something his physics teacher had once told him. An experiment called Schrödinger's Cat. The guy put a cat in a box, sealed the box, and then told everyone that as long as they didn't open it the cat could be either alive or dead and was therefore both alive _and _dead. A bunch of bullshit in Tom's opinion. He couldn't understand why Schrödinger wouldn't just open the box and let that poor cat out _before_ it got to the point that people wondered if the thing was still alive or not. But now he thought he understood.

As long as he stayed here and didn't move and didn't turn on a light Wolf could be either alive or dead. Therefore, he was both alive _and _dead. As long as Tom didn't know which he could pick for himself. He chose to think that Wolf was alive and chasing down the bad guys on foot while they desperately tried to get away in a stolen car. Just like in that Will Smith movie, _Bad Boys_. Only this time they wouldn't get away because Wolf was Wolf and he was alive and this was Tom's dream so that dead cat could just kiss his arse.

* * *

The front lawn of the Rider home was a mess. As Snake haphazardly pulled his car over behind one of the three dozen police cars he knew that his image would forever be buried in his head. The blue lights cast ever changing shadows on the lawn and all the way to the front door. The entire street was out to see what had happened. Spectators were snapping pictures, news cameras were going, and police were futilely telling people to go home, there was nothing to see here. But there was something to see. There was always something to see at this house be it the tragedy that had just occurred or the giant hole Tom had once dug trying to dye the water supply green.

He was out of his car and nearly to the police barricade before he realized he'd forgotten to lock it. He didn't go back. He physically couldn't turn to go back and lock his car. To hell with it. At this point, he didn't care if it was stolen. A quick flash of his military identification and he was through the barricade-tracksuit and all. He hadn't had the presence of mind to fully dress. He'd barely remembered to put on trainers.

He found Fox by the front steps and when he stepped up he saw Jack sitting on the bottom step, arms wrapped around herself, and trying to a give a statement that meant something. But she was crying and it was a little hard to make out she was saying. Fox put a hand on his upper arm and turned him back around. Apparently now was the time for a private conversation.

It was then that Snake noticed the sheet covering the dead body in the middle of lawn. There was so much blood that the sheet was red almost to its ends. The breath hitched in his throat.

"It's not Andy," Fox told him. "It's an intruder. The coroner said they killed one of their own as they were chasing Eagle down."

They were far enough away from anyone-but most specifically Jack-that they could speak freely.

"What happened?" he asked.

"From what we've gathered," Fox began, "Andy interrupted them kidnapping Alex. He tasered one of them and the guy fell from the second story window. He's unconscious but he should be available for talking in a few hours. Andy then ran out here and was able to stop another guy from getting away. They fought and we think Andy managed to knock him out. At this point the car ran up from the street, onto the lawn, and chased him for ten feet. They ran him over."

"He's at the hospital?" Snake asked.

"Yes, he's in surgery now," Fox said. "Paramedic said it looked bad but since he never actually went _under_ the car they should be able to save him."

"How do you know they didn't completely run over him?" Snake asked, hating how they had slipped into work mode but knowing it was necessary. If they were going to fix this, if they were going to find Alex, they needed their full wits about them. Now was the time to bury all the feelings and deep desires of revenge and operate as the cold soldiers they were supposed to be. They had a job to do.

"He tried to disappear behind the bushes," Fox said and pointed to the corner of the house where Snake could now see that the bushes lining the front had been nearly demolished. He was certain if he went over he'd find Eagle's blood staining the mulch. That was the same bush Tom and Alex had once hidden behind to fire paintballs at them. It seemed so long ago. It had barely been a year and a half. It was nearing December again and Eagle's second Christmas in the Rider house.

"He got all the way to the end," Fox continued, "where they pinned him between the hood and the house. We don't think they were going that fast. It seems Eagle jumped to keep the car's impact away from his torso. They crushed his right leg."

Snake winced. That was the type of injury to permanently cripple someone. He didn't say it.

"That was when Jack came out," Fox finished. "She didn't see anything. At least, I think she didn't see anything. Nobody can really understand her."

"Where's Wolf?" he asked knowing Fox had already called the man. Fox shrugged.

"He should be here any minute," the other man told him. "Said he had to wake the kid first and you know how that can be."

Snake couldn't help but snort in amusement. He could just see Tom trying to roll out of that stupid pull out couch and trying to focus. The kid had a hard enough time focusing when he was fully alert, nearly asleep would make it impossible for him. Wolf would probably be a while.

"Do we know who they were?" Snake asked. Fox gave him a look. One that suggested that he should know exactly who this was and that he was naive for not acknowledging it.

"You actually think this was Skelter?" Snake asked and Fox winced. This was the first time any of them had dared utter the name on their own soil. Even when being debriefed they hadn't been forced to say the name. They had said it when they'd first heard it but after the mass grave they'd found they had stopped saying it. And even though Snake knew it made them seem like those jumpy Harry Potter characters he still could rarely muster the will to talk about Skelter. Voldemort had nothing on this guy.

"It's a very distinct possibly that we shouldn't ignore," Fox said but never outright confirmed his own suspicions. The conversation would have continued if Puma hadn't suddenly appeared from the crowd. Skelter had been before Puma's time in the Unit so the guy didn't know anything about it. Snake wondered what he was doing there.

"Fox," he said curtly. "Something just came in over the police radios. There's been a shooting at Wolf's place."

Snake took off for the car. Fox turned back just long enough to give Puma some final instructions.

"Take care of Jack," he shouted.

"Who's Jack?" Puma shouted back.

"The hysterical woman on the front stoop. She's Eagle's girlfriend!"

In the blink of an eye they were speeding towards Wolf's flat. They even passed Brookland and Snake couldn't help but think that Tom and Alex should have been waking up for school in a few hours. Well, Alex would wake up. Tom would roll out of bed and try to remember where he was. But Snake knew he was getting dangerously close to too much emotion.

* * *

He could hear something beyond the thin piece of wood that separated him from whoever was out there. He didn't dare move, he barely breathed. It wasn't Wolf. He knew that. If it was Wolf he would have gotten him out of this pitch black hole in the top of the closet wall. Tom hated this hole. Hated it more than he'd ever hated anything or anyone.

He hated it more than the cancer that took his big sister; he hated it more than that assassin guy that once made Alex cry in his sleep; he hated it more than the Head of MI6; he hated it more than his absent, overly critical father. He even hated it more than that deadbeat that had tried to beat him. He just wanted to leave this stupid hole. He just wanted to see light. Any light. A pinprick would do.

Just a small little pinprick of light so he would know he hadn't been lost to the world.

He felt his first tear escape from his eye. The first real tear he'd shed in years. This tear wasn't for show, for manipulation, for himself. This one was for Wolf. Because he knew it had been too long. This was no longer Schrödinger's stupid cat in that stupid box in that stupid experiment all those stupid years ago. This was now and it had been too long and there was someone out there that wasn't Wolf. Wolf wasn't both alive _and _dead. Wolf was probably just _dead_ and not even Tom's imagination could conjure up any other explanation.

The tear Tom shed wasn't for himself and his own end. It was for Wolf.

It was then that he heard a voice. A painfully familiar voice.

"He always makes sure that he can get away," it said. "He always makes sure the both of them have a place to hide."

Tom heard things being moved from the shelf. He knew that voice-that very familiar, soldier voice-and that voice was about to find him. He wriggled back just in time to avoid being smashed in the face by the flimsy little attic door as it was punched away.

Light flooded in and for a moment he was blinded by it. And when his eyes adjusted a few seconds later he saw Snake, burn scars and all. The soldier reached a hand in and Tom grasped it. The soldier pulled him out of the attic-hole with relative ease and the teen fell into his arms. He couldn't find his feet and it was in that moment that the pressure that had been building inside of him for however long he'd been in that hole waiting for Wolf to come back, bubbled up and over the sides of the emotional wall he'd spent more than half his life building.

Tom shed another tear.

"Please shoot Schrödinger in the face," he whispered.

* * *

Yeah, so...a little heavy. But some people were asking for a bit more spy things. And I thought we'd seen enough good times for awhile. I'm not sure how long this story arch will be but I can promise that I'll start adding some more humor to the next chapters. It might be some darker humor though. You'll learn all about Skelter soon enough-he's an original of my sleep deprived brain. Skelter was who I was talking about in the last chapter. I can't believe how many "Is Jack pregnant?"s I got. That's my fault though for introducing my scary man at the end of a chapter called 'Baby Daddies'. :/

Oh, and there won't be any horrible explicit violence/torture in any of this. I might talk about it though but, again, not explicitly.

I'm trying to add some depth to all of these characters and unfortunately that means pushing them to their limits. Hope you guys understand and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. You have no idea how many rough drafts I went through. I actually considered making this own its own story so that people could skip over it if they wanted to but I clearly decided not to split the 'verse up into separate stories. If you don't like the darker stuff just ignore the next couple of chapters.

And finally...a show of hands...who wants Tom to be the hero in this 'mission'?


	20. Helter Skelter Part II

It was nearly five a.m. on Monday morning. He had been up since eleven at night on Sunday but it had all been worth it. Their meeting had gone off without a hitch and he had had one of the most amazing nights of his life.

For the first time in a long time, Alex Rider was close to being unequivocally happy. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt like this. he just felt like smiling. Not the goofy grin that Jack always wore or even the jittery smile that usually graced Tom's face. It was just a soft smile. Just something to remind him how much things had changed.

Alex knew he would probably fall asleep in at least one class this morning but it had been completely worth it. Being with her down by the water, just the two of them-it had been great. Sure they had been under a bridge and the entire thing was a piece of crap but it nice to them. _Their spot_, she'd called it. Always, _their spot_.

Slinking through the alleyways back to his home, Alex let himself smile a little more widely. He could just imagine Jack's face if she caught him sneaking in after spending the night out with a girl. Jack wouldn't know what to do; ground him for breaking the rules or be happy that he was finally living the life of a truly normal teenage boy. Probably both. Eagle would just laugh. And maybe congratulate him once Alex showed him her picture.

But Alex had no intention of letting them catch him sneaking back in. What good were his spy skills if he couldn't put them to good use? He may not be working for MI6 anymore but he could find a way to make sure he stayed sharp. Sneaking out of the second story window was the perfect way to keep up on his breaking and entering abilities.

And it was with that thought that he finally turned the corner and saw a sight he never wanted to see again.

His world began to crash around him.

Cameras, crowds, and vans were scattered all over his street. People were going in and out of his front door. Police tried to hold back crowds of neighbors. He saw ambulances and more horribly, a coroner's van.

_What had happened?_

As he maneuvered his way down the street he sent up a silent prayer to any deity that might listen to _please_ let Jack and Eagle be okay. He got to the sawhorse barricade and looked out across his front lawn. There was a body bag resting on a stretcher by the coroner's van with a man writing something on a clipboard near it.

He felt the breath leave his body.

_No._

Unable to stand there any longer he turned and pushed his way back out of the crowd, flipping up the hood of his jacket to keep anyone from recognizing him. He didn't want to be stopped. Clearly something bad had happened and he didn't want to be caught off guard. He'd spent far too much time being caught off guard.

* * *

The hospital was just as he remembered it. The front entrance was lit up in a friendly kind of way and the shrubs bordering the building were perfectly manicured and well kept. All in all, St. Dominic's would probably never change. Alex was sure of that.

This was the first stop on his list as he began his search for his friends. Someone had died at their home but someone had probably been injured as well. If that were the case then this was the hospital they would be at. The military controlled it for the most part and the SAS would want to make sure their own was being taken care of. So to St. Dominic's he went.

Alex forced himself to walk through the sliding glass doors and into the whiteness that was the lobby. He still had trouble walking into the building without seeing the dead security guard, a friend, that had been killed during his stay. He'd seen too much, he concluded, and he sent up a prayer hoping that Jack and Eagle were alright.

"Alex?"

The teen turned toward the voice. Fox. Both Fox and Snake were staring at him as if they'd seen a ghost. Fox had managed to stand in his obvious shock but Snake was still sitting in the hard plastic chair. He had an arm resting on the back of the chair next to him and Alex looked to see his best friend looking just as shocked.

Tom looked horrible. There were dark circles under his eyes, he looked as if he'd been crying, and he was pale. His hands were clasped around a steaming cup of something and Alex wondered if the other boy had been through some sort of trauma.

"What's happened?" Alex asked, his own voice sounding a little scared and worried. He couldn't keep himself emotionless though. Not now when everything was seemingly falling apart. "Where's Jack?"

"Where were _you_?" Fox snapped and Alex took a step back from the man at the harsh tone. "We've initiated a manhunt!"

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked, finally crossing the twenty or so paces from where he stood to join them in the small section of the lobby they'd claimed for themselves. "I was just at the house. Who was killed? Where is Jack and Andy?"

"Andy interrupted a kidnapping attempt," Snake said calmly. "Although we'd originally thought they'd succeeded. Where were you tonight? Around one in the morning?"

"I was out," Alex replied causally, as if it was completely natural for a fifteen year old boy to be out on the town at one o'clock in the morning on a Monday.

"Out?" Snake asked, pressing for answers. Alex decided to just tell them. They looked too haggard for lame, teenaged excuses.

"I snuck out to see a girl," he said feeling slightly embarrassed despite knowing that he had no reason to be.

"Oh yeah," Tom said sounding more alive than he looked. "How did that go? I told you Cindy liked you."

"Wait a second," Fox snapped looking angrier than either boy had ever seen. "You knew where he was the entire time? Why didn't you tell us?"

"I forgot about it," Tom said and Alex could tell he wasn't lying. The other boy looked as if he'd been through a rough night.

"You forgot?" Fox exclaimed incredulously.

"I've had a rough night," Tom shouted attracting the attention of the dozen or so people milling around the lobby. "I've been stuffed in a hole and been through the entire Schrödinger scenario. Leave me alone!" The boy then pulled his hood up and looked down in an effort to avoid everyone and everything. Alex had only seen him do such a thing once before and he knew that it meant that Tom was about to shut down. He needed to distract the soldiers. If they left the kid alone, he would bounce back.

"What happened to Jack and Andy?" he asked drawing the attention back to himself.

"Jack's fine," Fox said quietly equally aware of the people around him. "Andy's been in surgery for the last few hours but he should be in recovery right now. He was run down by a car as the intruders tried to flee the property. He managed to incapacitate two of them but one was killed by his own."

"How bad are the injuries?" Alex asked suddenly all business. It surprised Fox even though it shouldn't have. He'd seen Alex on the job before. He knew what the boy was capable of but he'd also seen the kid be a kid. It was odd seeing him as a soldier again after all that time.

"His leg has been crushed. He'll be lucky to walk again. He's already been benched from the SAS."

Alex winced. It just sounded so harsh. He also felt incredibly guilty. Andy's career was over because he'd been trying to save Alex from a situation the teen hadn't even been in. He couldn't help but think that it was-marginally-his fault.

"Also," Fox continued and Alex wondered just how much more bad news he was about to hear. "Wolf's been taken. We aren't sure by who and we don't know where they could have taken him. He managed to stuff Tom into a hiding spot in his closet before they broke down his front door and forcibly removed him from the flat.

"We found a bullet embedded in the wall of his bedroom but no blood. There's a good possibility that wherever he is, he's alive."

Alex nodded his head.

"Any leads?" he asked.

"No," Fox said.

"Any suspicions?" the teen amended. Fox didn't reply. His silence was enough to tell Alex more than any half-hearted lie could. He glanced at Tom who had risen his head in order to listen fully. Alex grabbed Fox's upper arm and pulled the man further away and out of earshot. Snake took the cue and began encouraging Tom to drink whatever was in his cup. Alex knew that unless it was coffee and Scotch, Tom wouldn't be interested in it anytime soon.

"Alex, even if I wanted to tell you about it I can't," Fox said before Alex could demand anything. "It's classified. You know better than anyone what that means."

"I'm a part of this," Alex replied. "There's no denying that I was a target. With Eagle out of commission you're going to need an extra set of hands. What is going on?"

"It appears," Fox acquiesced, "that an old enemy from South America has followed us home."

"How does he even know who you are?" Alex asked, knowing it should have been impossible for a target to trace an SAS team back to their homes.

"Clearly, there's a leak in the organization," Fox replied. "It's one of the things being looked into."

Alex started to reply to that but he never got the opportunity.

"Alex John Rider!" The scream was followed quickly by a flying mass of red hair which was the last thing he saw before he was swept into a bone crushing hug. He returned it. Jack quickly pulled away and planted her hands on his shoulders firmly. "Where _have you_ been?"

"I snuck out," he said truthfully. "To see that girl I told you about. Cindy."

"Oh thank god," Jack replied pulling a surprised teen back into an embrace. "I've never been so thankful for teenage hormones."

"Okay," Alex said lamely not entirely sure how to react and therefore resolved to just let Jack have her moment. His guardian released him again soon enough.

"You're grounded," she said. "Now come on, Andy's ready to receive people."

* * *

The nurses may have thought that Andrew Rosten of the SAS, codenamed Eagle was ready to receive people but Alex could tell with one look that the man didn't even know what was happening around him. Fox tried to debrief him but after a very few short sentences the man gave up.

"Andy," Fox said sternly in a desperate attempt to get his teammate to focus. "What do you remember about the man in the room? The one you tasered?" Fox was speaking really slow as if talking to a really young, really dense child.

All Eagle did to respond was try to reach over to play with other soldier's dog tags. Fox grabbed his arm and forced it back onto the bed.

"Do you know where you are?" Fox asked.

"Where's Alex?" Eagle mumbled.

"He's right here," Fox said patiently pointing at the teen for the third time in two minutes. "Are you in pain?"

"Yeesss," Eagle moaned. Fox looked at Jack.

"He says he's pain but I'm not sure," Jack said. "The nurse said if they give him anymore medicine that he could overdose. I think he just likes the high."

"Andy, focus," Fox continued still trying to get answers.

"You're not going to get any answers," Alex finally cut in and Fox huffed and straightened up. "He's too doped up. Just let him sleep."

"He's the only one who saw these people," Fox said sounding annoyed. "He might have seen the people in the car."

"As they ran him over?" Alex asked incredulously. "Ben, you know as well as I do that there's almost no possibility of him remembering who was in that car. There's almost no chance that he could identify anyone."

"He doesn't even know who _he_ is," Tom supplied not very helpfully. He was watching Eagle fiddle with a loose thread on his blanket as if it was the most fascinating thing on the planet.

The injured soldier eventually looked up with the same vacant expression he'd had since they'd entered his room.

"Where's Alex?"

Fox rolled his eyes and left.

* * *

"Where is it?"

Wolf ignored the voice. He didn't know who it belonged to. He didn't much care either. The electronically distorted voice came over a loud speaker in his tiny prison cell. He'd been strapped to a chair and wired with open electrical lines. It was torture.

"Where is _it_?" the voice pressed. He wasn't sure how they were seeing him. He couldn't see any cameras anywhere. He guessed it was a disguised two way mirror. There was a television mounted on the wall directly in front of him but it was currently off. He didn't have the slightest clue what it was there for.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Wolf responded coldly in an effort to avoid more shocks. It hurt like hell.

"The flash drive," the voice clarified. "The one from South America that you and your little teammates stole from Skelter's base. We know you never turned it over to your commanders. Where is it now?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do!" the voice snapped and even through the electronically modifiers Wolf could plainly hear the anger. "Where did you put it? In your flat? In the Rider home? Somewhere less stupid?"

Wolf remained silent.

The shocks continued.

* * *

Tom fiddled with the straps of the rucksack Wolf had given him. He and Alex were currently ensconced in the corner of the Intensive Care Unit's waiting area. Alex had his knees pulled up onto the chair, the sleeves of his hoodie pulled down over his hands, and looking absolutely miserable.

Digging around through the rucksack was more of a busy task to keep Tom's mind off of Wolf than anything else.

"What are you looking for?" Alex asked knowing Tom needed a distraction and more than willing to offer up a meaningless conversation for the sake of sanity. Tom had told Alex everything the moment the two of them had been alone. The ex-spy felt horrible and the last thing he wanted to do was let Tom out of his sight. The other boy was the closest thing Alex had to a brother and losing him would be a blow he probably wouldn't recover from.

"My mobile," Tom said. "I'm pretty sure I saw Wolf through it in when he was packing."

"Do you really need it right now?" Alex asked sounding a bit like Jack.

"Yeah," Tom replied without missing a beat. "It's a very important thing to have." Alex shook his head and continued watching Tom search.

"Oh, hey," Tom said after a few moments of searching. He pulled out a rosary Alex had never seen before. It was beautiful, handcrafted, and made of dark wood. "What's this?"

"You've never seen it before?" Alex asked reaching out and gently taking the necklace from Tom's grasp. Tom shook his head.

"No," Tom replied. "Rey doesn't wear jewelry. He only wears his dog tags."

Alex examined it closely. Wolf wasn't the type to randomly stuff things into a rucksack. The soldier never panicked. If it was there, it was there for a reason. Finally, after several minutes of turning over the wooden beads and cross in his hands he found it. A thin line, almost imperceptible, where the very top of the cross met the hook attaching it to the rest of the rosary. The cross wasn't solid.

He pulled and the cross came apart easily enough. It was hollow inside and he turned it over in his hand bring the small piece of wood down firmly on his palm. Soon enough, a small piece of paper came loose and fell into his hand.

It looked like the slips of paper one would find in a fortune cookie and Alex quickly unrolled it.

_The answer lies where the Royals cross. _

It was in Wolf's handwriting.

"Since when is Wolf into riddles?" Alex mumbled.

"Since he had something to hide."

Both boys snapped their heads up towards the voice.

Snake didn't look happy and he quickly snatched both the rosary and the piece of paper from Alex's hands.

"Don't," the soldier warned sternly.

"Don't what?" Alex asked, his own tone just as cold. "What is that? What's Wolf hiding that's so dangerous?"

"Cub," Snake snapped already over the demands for explanations. "You want to be involved then I suggest you call Mrs. Jones and ask to be re-activated. Otherwise, stay out of it."

"You know who has Rey," Tom suddenly accused. "Don't you?"

Snake didn't answer. He simply reassembled the rosary and put it on, hiding it under his shirt and tracksuit jacket. Then he walked away, leaving the two kids in their little corner alone.

* * *

"Where did you hide it?" the voice asked.

"I don't have it," Wolf insisted. "We turned it over to our Commander. We're soldiers not private investigators. Whatever we saw or didn't see in our operation was reported."

"You're lying," the voice said.

"No," Wolf replied. "I'm not."

He had the sudden strange feeling that he was arguing with Tom. The back and forth was all too familiar and he had a flashback to standing in the kitchen and arguing with the teen about what constituted a healthy breakfast cereal. However, the stakes were much higher here.

"Where did you hide it?"

Wolf remained silent.

"If you don't answer I'll be forced to get ugly."

Wolf didn't know what that meant. They'd already tried to torture him into giving up the information. He didn't know what else they could possibly come up with.

"Go to hell," Wolf snapped refusing to play along.

Suddenly the blank television screen flickered to life. But instead of showing something from a TV channel he saw a picture.

Tom's picture.

It had clearly been taken without the teen's knowledge. He was looking over his shoulder at someone or something behind him but Wolf could see Alex in the background looking in the same direction. They were both wearing their school uniforms and Wolf guessed that they were walking home. Probably to Alex's home. The color of the leaves told Wolf it had probably been taken a few weeks ago. Wolf would have been in Japan.

"Are you ready to talk now?" the voice asked condescendingly. "Or do you need to see more?"

Soon enough the surveillance photo disappeared to be replaced by family photos. Photos Wolf had never seen before.

Tom and Alex, aged five, in their Halloween costumes.

Tom hugging a football with a Christmas tree in the background.

Tom with his siblings, his sister in a hospital bed and his brother grinning like a manic, Tom pouting.

Tom and Alex with Jack, probably soon after she had become Alex's main caregiver.

"How about now?" the voice asked. "_Where is the flash drive_?"

Wolf replied. And he was certain that if his mother had ever heard that reply she would have scowled and pulled out some ivory soap.

The voice wasn't pleased.

The shocks continued.


	21. Helter Skelter Part III

_The answer lies where the Royals cross._

Alex was thoroughly engrossed in the riddle. He felt as if he was missing something very obvious. Wolf wasn't a puzzle master; the guy hated riddles, conundrums, and anything that required a unique kind of logic. So he had a feeling that the riddle was much more simple than he was thinking it was.

_C'mon, Rider. Think like Wolf._

If Wolf was trying to hide something when and where would it have happened? This whole thing seemed to revolve around an old mission. Fox and Snake had made that clear enough. So, Wolf would have hidden something _before_ he got home, _before_ he had Tom watching his every move and questioning every word he said.

The soldier would have hidden this thing the second he was off the plane. But Alex couldn't remember a time when they hadn't picked him up from the airport right along with Eagle. When would he have had the time? Unless, all of this started before K-Unit had come back into their lives. Although, for some reason Alex didn't think that was the case. K-Unit had been horribly tense for a while now. Something had happened between the time of Snake's burns and last night.

Where did the Royals cross? Where would Wolf have hidden something if he thought he was being constantly watched? It would have had to be a place that wouldn't have been out of his way. A place no one would question his presence in but a place no one would think he would leave something behind either. Wolf wasn't sneaky by nature but he'd apparently done a very good job at hiding whatever it was these people were after. Alex, on the other hand, was a sneaky person and it was frustrating him that he couldn't figure it all out.

He played back the last few months in his head. When did K-Unit come home on their own? When they were debriefed in SAS headquarters and not at the base of operations. When was the last time that had happened? A few weeks ago; he remembered because it was the same time he and Tom had had to do that stupid health class project.

Alex suddenly sat straight up in his hard-backed, plastic hospital chair in the middle of the main lobby. He and Tom had retreated there in order to be by themselves and try to deal with everything they had been through in the past twelve hours. Tom had fallen asleep nearly an hour ago.

He didn't bother to wake him.

He just got up from his chair, pulled the hood over his head, and left the hospital through the front doors. He had an idea and while he was fairly certain he was completely right, he had to make sure before he got Tom's hopes up.

00000

King's Cross Station was relatively abandoned at this odd hour. The main terminal always had something going in or out considering that it _was_ a main transportation hub but at four thirty in the morning it was transitioning from the late night travelers to the early morning travelers.

Alex stood in the center of the floor looking around him and trying to figure out how best to go about this. He was certain he could get into the lockers but he had no idea which locker would be Wolf's. Alex didn't know him well enough to know an alias Wolf might use and he was positive that the paranoid soldier wouldn't have used his real name. Now he was stuck thinking at the train station, racking his brain for a memory of a number. Any number.

Had he seen a train locker key recently? _No_. Had Tom? _Unlikely_.

Wolf wouldn't have left anything to chance. He wouldn't have taken a randomly assigned locker number on the chance that something like what was happening happened. He would have requested a very specific kind of locker. A strategically placed locker. Wolf clearly hadn't trusted anyone with what he was holding on to. That meant he didn't want his bosses to know he had it.

Alex looked up. _One, two, three _cameras that could potentially pick up someone standing at the lockers. Except, for that one spot directly under camera one. That particular camera was in a corner and was specifically designated to watch this area. The other two were simply overlap. But the few lockers directly underneath camera one would be a blind spot. If approached from the far left no one would ever know if someone had been there. Alex immediately made his way over, careful to keep his hood up and face down.

There were four lockers with the potential to be Wolf's. Three had a lock that required a key. One had a lock that had been recently replaced. This one required a combination. This was Wolf's locker, Alex was sure of it. Now all he had to do was figure out the combination. This he could do. Wolf would have made it a combination every member of K-Unit could figure out.

But that thought made Alex hesitate. What series of numbers would mean something important to all four members of K-Unit? He thought back to what he knew about them. The first series of numbers he tried was the date they would have begun training together.

The lock didn't give.

Next he tried the date they would have ended training. That wasn't it either. Normally, Alex would have simply pressed his ear to the store bought combo-lock and cracked it but even in the relative emptiness of the station there was too much noise for him to hear the pins clicking into place. He'd have to do it the hard way. _Great_.

What other date would be of importance? He honestly didn't know and he was suddenly feeling like he didn't know them at all. He went through everyone's birthdays but that wasn't it either. He even did his own birthday and then Tom's and Jack's. Nothing worked. Alex slammed his palm down on the cold metal in frustration. Sighing, he forced himself to calm down and think. This was Wolf. Non-sentimental, cold-faced Wolf. There was a string of numbers that made more practical sense than others. _What was it?_

He thought back to the rosary. Wolf was unlikely to have picked that out on his own. He wasn't a religious man by any stretch of the imagination. So why choose a rosary of all things to hide an important message in? There was reason to it, Alex knew.

And suddenly things clicked into place. They had been in South America when Wolf would have come across whatever he'd needed to hide. South America, a place they'd been frequenting of late. Alex wasn't supposed to know where they were going but Eagle still thought of him as a colleague sometimes and had let slip that they had been on that continent quite a few times. Whatever mission they had been working on had followed them home.

Wolf was leaving behind clues about the mission. The teen mentally ran through everything he knew about South America. Who would have caught British attention? He honestly didn't know. But he did know the date that Snake had been flown home suddenly with burns covering half his face and part of his torso. Alex spun the lock to the appropriate numbers and was actually half surprised when it clicked open. Smiling to himself he removed the lock and flung the door open.

Inside was a single flash drive attached to a lanyard decorated with a flag Alex didn't recognize off the top of his head. He grabbed it and left as quickly as he'd come.

00000

Getting back into his house wasn't possible. It was a crime scene, taped off, and flooded with MI6 agents. The same went for Wolf's flat. So Alex headed to the one place he knew would be open and unguarded at seven-thirty in the morning.

_Brookland_.

School itself didn't start until nine but the buildings were all open for teachers preparing for the day and students who came early to work on last minute homework and projects. He went unnoticed as he slipped behind a computer in the library. The librarian didn't even look up from her Vogue magazine and Starbucks. That suited Alex just fine.

Starting up the machine and typing in his login, he wondered just how much trouble he'd be in for going off on his own. MI6 obviously wouldn't care and Eagle wouldn't be coherent enough to understand anything for the next few days but Fox would be pissed. Alex suspected there would be a lecture upon his return. Not that there was anything Fox could say that would make him feel guilty about anything. Wolf was missing; Eagle had almost been killed; Jack was in hysterics. He needed to know why. He needed to stop it.

Once the computer was running smoothly and showed him the generic baby blue home screen Alex slipped the flash drive from his pocket and plugged it in. A window immediately popped up again and asked for a password. He silently cursed and nearly slammed his hands on the keyboard in frustration. He only just managed to control himself. The last thing he needed was to call attention to himself. He eyed the window and that was when he saw it. A small line of script at the bottom.

_You have five tries left_.

"Great," he mumbled. Five tries and whatever was on the flash drive would probably be erased. There was no way to tell how long or short the password was. It could be anything. He didn't dare try to open it. He unplugged the drive and logged out.

He couldn't open it but he knew someone who could.

00000

The Royal and General Bank was as dull and drab and unappealing as ever. Alex hated the thought of being there but all in all it was necessary. He entered through the main lobby and ignored the woman behind the desk eyeing him. The elevator would take him to the floor he needed without special permission. After all, he wasn't here to see the top people.

Smithers's office was crowded. Stacks and stacks of files, discarded bits of wire, and pieces of scrap metal were scattered across his desk and the work table directly opposite. The enormous fat man was sitting at the table twisting two wires together that had originated from a nondescript mobile phone. Alex didn't know if he was fixing it, modifying it, or just playing around. That was the thing about Smithers. There was never a way to tell.

"Alex!" he greeted happily when he caught sight of the fair haired teen.

"Hello Mr. Smithers," he greeted back.

"What brings you here so early in the morning?" the man asked. "Caught in a bit of trouble again?" The raised eyebrow and amused half-smile was all Alex needed to know that Smithers was aware of what had been happening in the last few hours. He wondered if Blunt knew he was in the building. There was a possibility. There was always the possibility. After all, no one had asked about why a teenager was wandering the halls of a restricted building.

"It seems so," Alex responded with a genuine sigh. "I came to ask you for a favor."

"Of course!"

"Can you open this for me?" he asked and dangled the flash drive in front of Smithers by the flag lanyard. He'd forgotten to look up the country it came from.

"I can certainly try," Smithers responded and took it. He grabbed a sleek looking laptop from beneath the work bench and opened it in front of him. Alex walked around to watch him work. The same window popped up when the MI6 man plugged in the drive into his computer but instead of trying to guess a password Smithers opened another window and began typing in text. Computer commands, Alex recognized. He had no idea what the man was doing. He'd never been _that_ good with hacking and computers. Just enough to get by.

However, Smithers was a master and it took him only ten minutes to bypass the security on the flash drive. Alex wondered where this drive had come from. Had K-Unit seen what was on it or had they stolen it like Alex had done once before on his own mission? File after file appeared in yet another window and each one was identified by a date. A date Alex knew would coincide with a K-Unit deployment. At least for the past few months or so. The last few dates he knew for certain were all lined up with K-Unit's absences from home.

"Open that one," he said and pointed to the most recent file. Smithers complied and a PDF file opened. Alex didn't recognize the image. It was a picture, most likely the result of a reconnaissance mission. It was clear as day though. A dark haired man with tanned skin and a battered, ill fitting General's outfit was standing on a helipad. Alex recognized him immediately. Not from his time in MI6 but from school. Social Studies class in fact and Mrs. Hanswell's insistence that her students stay up to date with current affairs.

He was a South American war lord. People called him Helter Skelter because of his obsession with the Beatles song. He was a cross between Kony in Africa and Charles Manson in America. A bad guy all around, the type of guy Alex never wanted to come across. But Skelter wasn't alone in this picture. He was with another man. A man Alex recognized. His blood went cold.

"Smithers, you need to get these picture to Blunt immediately," the teen said. His voice didn't portray his shock, he still sounded completely calm.

"He's not here," Smithers said.

"Then take them to Mrs. Jones," Alex responded.

"Why? What are we looking at?"

"A traitor."

He didn't stick around to explain further. In fact, he was halfway down the corridor, running full pelt towards the elevator before Smithers had the presence of mind to call his name.

"Alex!"

00000

"Tom."

The annoying voice refused to go away. He batted at the air with his hand as if to swipe away the person with the voice like they were a bug. But this bug was persistent.

"TOM!" The last was a shout and it was accompanied by a slap to his leg. It wasn't hard but it was enough to surprise him out of sleep. He jolted and glanced around warily half expecting men with guns and masks. But it was just Fox. An irritated Fox but just Fox. "Where's Alex?"

Tom glanced over to the chair he'd last seen Alex in but the hard plastic was bare. He was gone.

"I don't know," Tom replied, rubbing at his eyes. "Did you try the cafe?"

"Yes, he's not there."

"Then I don't know," the boy insisted as he allowed Fox to pull him to his feet and guide him back towards Eagle's hospital room. "I've been asleep."

"Hmm," was all the reply that he got. It wasn't until they were nearly to Eagle's room that Fox even acknowledged another human being.

"Daniels!"

Fox immediately looked over his shoulder to see Puma. He stopped walking and waited for the other man to cross the meager distance between them.

"Any news about Eagle?" Puma asked.

"Yeah," Fox responded. "His career's over but he'll live."

"Oh," Puma said blankly clearly unable to formulate a response to that. It was said so harshly that it even made Tom wince. But the tone was interesting. Either Fox's cold and calm exterior was beginning to crack under the strain of no sleep and a missing teammate, or he really didn't like Puma. "Well, I'm headed to the cafe, is there anything you want me to bring back?"

"Food," Tom replied instantly jumping at the offer of breakfast. Puma looked him, amused.

"What would you like?" he asked but before the teen could answer Fox dropped Tom's arm and gave him a nudge in Puma's direction.

"Just take him with you," Fox replied. "I'll pay you back later."

Puma shook his head.

"No worries,mate," he said. Tom led the way to the lifts and the two quickly made their way away from Eagle and his doped up mumblings and towards the food that Tom was beginning to feel like he desperately needed. He really did hate hospitals.

00000

Wolf's eyes were sore from the lack of sleep. Not to mention the electronic shocks that they'd finally given up on. He'd never been so grateful for the Sergeant and his sadistic training. Apparently, it was all useful.

They'd left him in the chair and his head was leaning against the wood. He was attempting to get a little rest. He was going to need energy, he just knew it. The voice was quiet. In fact, they seemed quite content on letting him think through everything that was happening to him. With the television screen still on, Wolf couldn't help but look at the pictures they'd managed to gather. He took a closer look at each and every one, trying to place them.

The ones of Tom as a young child would have obviously come from his mother's house. He wondered if the woman was still alive. The one of Alex and Tom outside of school. He felt as if he knew that one. As if he'd seen it before. Had Jack taken it? If so, that meant his kidnappers had been in the Rider home. Where was his team? Was Eagle alright?

These people had come for him after he'd gotten the call about Eagle. He'd been their Plan B. He wondered if the rest of the team was okay? Did they have Alex? Or had the kid managed to get away? He didn't know. He didn't know anything really. They'd never actually been able to hack the flash drive. That was why he'd hidden it in the first place. To keep it out of reach of the mole in the SAS. Wolf had his suspicions about who it was but until he got the files on the drive everything they had was pretty much useless.

His only real hope at this point was that the Unit found the drive and got it open. Then they'd know. And he wouldn't have been tortured for nothing.

"Comfortable?" the voice asked suddenly. He wished dearly to hit the person it belonged to with all of his strength. They deserved it. "You're tough. Tougher than we expected. But there's more than one way to make you talk."

"Oh really?" Wolf questioned, only half-sarcastically.

"Yes," the voice replied and the television flickered to a new image. This however, wasn't a picture. This was a live video feed. The camera showed a cell much like his own with a boy strapped to a metal chair, gagged and blindfolded. Wolf could barely see his face but he could recognize that head of hair anywhere.

"Tom!" he shouted as if the boy could hear him through the television. How had they gotten to him? He should have been with the Unit by now. Or had they found the hiding spot Wolf had left him in? He didn't know and in all honesty it didn't matter. All that mattered was that they had the kid. _His_ kid.

As he watched someone entered the room behind the boy. They threaded their hand through the kid's hair and then yanked his head back so that his neck was fully exposed. The knife that came to rest at his jugular was expected but still managed to shock Wolf.

"I'll ask you one more time," the voice said. "Where is the flash drive?"

Wolf knew they had him. He may not get along with the kid most of the time but Tom was a civilian. Barely fifteen. The soldier knew he would never be able to watch as they slit his throat. And they knew it too.

"Okay," he finally said. "Okay. It's at King's Cross Station. Locker 456."

The voice never responded but the knife was taken away and the man disappeared the way he'd come.

Wolf's head fall back against the wood of his chair, not in exhaustion but relief.

"Thank god."


	22. Helter Skelter Part IV

Fox registered that it was far too quiet.

It felt like he was in the eye of the storm.

Jack was sleeping in a chair next to the still drugged Eagle in his private room. The two SAS guards posted at the door were as steady and silent as their current assignment demanded them to be. Tom was still at breakfast and the rest of the floor was muted due to the utter seriousness of the patient in room 309. Eagle's room.

It was quiet.

It set his teeth on edge.

He hadn't slept, he'd only managed to choke down half a sandwich, and he dearly wished to call Sarah but she would be getting ready for work and he didn't wish to bother her with any of this. Even if he was allowed to bother her with any of this. He might tell her some of it later and hope she didn't pry for the rest.

He felt like the world was spinning and he couldn't tell if it was from the lack of sleep, lack of food, or all the chaos. He decided it was lack of food when his stomach let loose with a sound that could be described as a dying whale. It was so loud it echoed down the empty corridor and the nurse looked up from her computer to eye him with an all knowing look. He smiled, blushed, and turned towards the lifts.

When he reached the cafe he instantly knew something was wrong. The cafe was open but the only people in there were a few surgeons, a doctor, and a man that looked like a solicitor. There was no Tom or Puma in sight. He looked at his watch.

They had only been gone a half hour. It took Tom at least forty-five minutes to demolish a breakfast. Snake said it was because he was about to grow again. If they _had_ finished, why weren't they back upstairs? Something rang terribly suspicious. He turned on his heel and marched back towards the lifts determined to have Tom in his sight within minutes. They had already lost Alex. If he lost Tom, Wolf would never forgive him. Hell, he'd never forgive himself.

Fox immediately went to Eagle's room hoping the teen had perhaps curled up in the other chair and was sleeping off his large meal. But when he peeked in all he saw was Jack. Her feet were propped up on the bed, the hood of her sweater pulled up, and she was snoring lightly. Eagle was awake. Sort of.

The soldier was blinking up at the ceiling, his expression one of bright curiosity. Fox just left him there and wondered if he should discuss the man's pain medication dose with the doctor. Clearly, Eagle was a lightweight.

Fox backtracked to the corridor where the two SAS soldiers were stoically standing guard.

"Have either of you seen Accomplice?" he asked. "Or Puma?"

"No, sir," one of them replied. Fox ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He looked down the corridor and thought. Where would the two of them have gone? "You. Go search the bottom floors. You. Take the top. I'll stand guard."

"Yes, sir," they both saluted and darted off. Fox pulled out his mobile and dialed Snake's number. The phone rang out and the other man's voicemail came on. Fox inwardly cursed. Snake was supposed to be back at the Rider home looking for something-anything-that would tell them where Wolf was being held.

Not having anything else to do at the moment Fox sat in one of the chairs just outside Eagle's door. He pulled out his gun, checked it, and put it back. He ran his head through his short hair, looked at the screen of his mobile, and willed for something good to finally happen.

"FOX!"

He jumped out of his seat immediately, his hand on his gun, and spun towards the sound of the terrified voice. Alex was running full pelt towards him and didn't seem likely to stop.

"Whoa!" Fox said as he caught the boy by the arm, stopping him cold. "Where have _you_ been?"

It was starting to feel like a standard question when it came to Alex.

"Where's Puma?" Alex answered and Fox gave him a confused look.

"Why?"

"I cracked the flash drive," he said and Fox inwardly winced.

"Alex," he started to scold.

"Yeah, I know. Bad spy. Where is Puma?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"Because it was him! He's the one who's looking for the flash drive. He knew it was only a matter of time before Wolf got into that flash drive and figured out it was him. Where is he?"

Fox's mouth was going up and down as he tried to swallow what Alex had just thrown at him. He thought back to South America. The mission Puma had gone on with them as Snake's burns healed at home. They were only there for reconnaissance. Puma hadn't come onto the team until after they'd had several run-ins with Skelter's people. As far as Fox knew, Puma had never met someone from Skelter's organization. Clearly, he'd been wrong.

In South America, they had come across a flash drive left on the body of an informant. They had received a call from him telling them that he had evidence. The very evidence they needed for Blunt's people to take Skelter out permanently. But when they'd finally been able to reach the man, he had already been killed. A bullet to the back of the head. Execution style.

He thought back. Had Puma been with them the entire time? No. Could he have slipped away to kill the informant? Possibly. Had he known about the flash drive before Wolf had picked it from the dead man's pockets and tried to plug it into their computer? Clearly not.

And none of them had known where Wolf had hidden it. The informant had made it clear that someone working this operation was feeding information to Skelter. But they had known that weeks before Puma had ever been out of training and on their team. So who was behind all of this?

"Alex when you were looking at the files on the flash drive did you find anything about who was behind all of this?" Fox asked. "Besides Puma?"

"No," the teen said. "Where is he? Where is everyone else?"

It occurred to Fox that now would be a good time to call in more back-up. Wolf was not the only hostage anymore.

00000

Wolf's head slumped forward. He knew he had to get some rest before his captors came back to continue on. If they continued on. By the fact that he was still alive he knew that they hadn't yet found the flash drive. Had his team found it? He prayed that was what happened. Because the second Skelter's men had the drive and all the evidence, he and Tom would both be dead. The thought terrified him.

Not because he would lose his own life. He had signed over his life a long time ago. It was only a matter of time for him. But Tom was just a boy-barely fifteen and still too short to reach the pedals of a car. He didn't deserve to be caught up in all of this. How were they going to get out of this? Wolf had no idea where he was, if Tom was even in the same location, or what was happening outside. He wasn't even sure how long he'd been there.

He sighed and straightened up recognizing that he wouldn't be sleeping at all. His mind was going too quickly and he was too anxious. He wanted to see Tom.

That was all he really wanted.

Well, that and he wouldn't mind a cheeseburger.

00000

Fox was in the main waiting room of the hospital trying to hold a conversation with three different people at the same time. One was a fellow soldier at the SAS and Fox was coordinating with him on the manhunt they'd initiated for Puma. They were watching his flat, his girlfriend's flat, the girlfriend's parents, and every other person they could find in Puma's file. Nobody expected him to be stupid enough to go there but they were watching them anyway.

However, Fox was spending most of his time on hold and was bouncing back and forth between touching base with Snake and convincing Alex to back off. The teen was going crazy, itching to run out in the street and start kicking in doors. It wouldn't be helpful and it would give MI6 an excuse to put the boy back in the field. Thankfully, when Fox was talking into the mobile, Snake picked up the slack.

"You can't just jump back into the field," the medic snapped. "You haven't been on a mission in months. You could get someone killed, probably yourself."

"This is _Tom_," Alex snapped back. "Tom!"

"We understand that," Snake said. "You're not the only one who wants to see the kid come home safe. We're all worried."

"Nobody wants to see Tom come home as much I do," Alex nearly shouted, his body tense, and a sharp finger pointed in Snake's face for emphasis. "And you cannot leave me behind. Not for something like this."

"We don't even know where they are yet," Snake replied as calm as he could be. "But when we do find them..."

"When we do find them, I'm coming with you! You four have already messed up enough."

"Hey!" Fox shouted at him and Alex's head snapped towards him. "That's not fair and you know it."

"Why didn't you guys just hand over that stupid flash drive?" This time all three looked around. This time it was Jack asking the question.

"We didn't know how high up in the operation this went," Fox told her, unwilling to hold anything else from her anymore. "We had to know who the traitor was before we could act." She nodded.

"Do me a favor Ben?" she asked.

"Of course."

"Take Alex with you," she said. "When you go. If there's one thing he can do, it's get results."

The soldier looked at her with an unreadable expression. He was moderately surprised that she was giving her blessing for Alex to go with them. Not that anyone else had given him permission to come. Still, considering Jack's well known opinion on all things government operation, he couldn't quite wrap his head around her unusual request.

But he nodded anyway.

The American turned to Alex and gently cupped his face.

"I know you," she said quietly. "And nothing is going to keep you from going to rescue Tom. And nothing is going to keep you from trying to set all of this right. But please be careful."

She kissed his forehead and left to go back to Eagle's room.

Alex turned to Fox.

"Your mobile's ringing."

Fox glared at him, trying desperately to draw on his inner Wolf.

"Fox," he snapped into the microphone. "Where? When? Got it." He snapped the mobile shut and stared directly into Alex's determined eyes.

"They found Puma," he hissed. "Let's go."

00000

Puma had been attempting to leave the country in the hull of a freighter belonging to a Swedish shipping company. A crew member had seen him breaking into one of the containers to try to hide in and reported it. They had picked up the report the second it had come onto the wire and had been able to dispatch a team before Puma had a chance to realize he'd been seen.

Fox and Alex watched through the two-way mirror as an experienced SAS officer interrogated Puma about everything he had done and had planned to do. Over the course of the next ten hours, it came out that he had been approached by Skelter's inside man with the promise that in exchange for several favors he would be rewarded handsomely. He had hoped to pay off his debts and marry his girlfriend with that money. He had initially been told to fudge records and details on reports to keep K-Unit away from what they were beginning to uncover.

When it was discovered that K-Unit had found a flash drive on the body of an informant it fell to Puma to get it back before Wolf found a way past the security. However, after failing to secure the flash drive from Wolf's hiding spot the traitor behind it all had become desperate and had hatched the plan playing out before them now. Puma's last act of betrayal was to take Tom from the hospital and deliver him to a team waiting for him a couple of blocks away. He didn't know where Tom had been taken after that.

When the official interrogator left the room Fox managed to slip inside. He unplugged the security camera above the door. Puma eyed him warily.

"I think you're lying," Fox said.

"I told him everything," Puma replied, referring to the man he'd spent the last ten hours with. There were bruises on Puma's face and hands that Fox would later deny having any knowledge of.

"I still think you're lying," he said. "How could you? You had dinner at Eagle's table and then just handed him over to die."

"He wasn't supposed to get hurt."

"Don't be stupid Puma," Fox seethed. "These people aren't going to stop until they have that flash drive and they aren't going to feel bad about a pint sized corpse. And you know it."

"I don't know where they are."

"Where did you meet your contact?"

"In some old apartment building. On the South side of town."

"Address. Now."

00000

It became immediately apparent that Puma had given them a fake address. Snake had led the team that raided the apartment building frightening the work crew renovating the outdated building quite thoroughly. There was nothing there. There was no evidence of any kind that the place was being used for meetings. Background checks on the worker's came back clean. Snake was convinced they'd been played.

"I'm telling you Fox," he said into his mobile as he watched the traffic from a seventh floor window. "There's nothing here."

"Look again," Fox replied. He sounded incredibly strained and Snake could hear Alex in the background though he sounded as if he was talking to someone else.

"I will," Snake promised, "but I'm telling you. I think it's a fake address."

"Still, keep looking." Snake hung up quickly after that knowing that Fox wouldn't be satisfied until it was completely apparent that there was nothing there. He wondered why Puma was still protecting these people. He obviously didn't support what they were doing; he was in it for the money. It was in his best interest to tell them the truth at this point. So unless someone had done a very good job at cleaning up after themselves, Puma's involvement went deeper than they'd originally thought.

"Tiger," he addressed the soldier shifting through the room's contents. The man turned towards him expectantly.

"Sir?"

"Get me everything you can find on this building. I want to know who has access. Plumbers, electricians, contractors, real estate, solicitors. Everyone. Concentrate on people with some sort of connection to government employees. We're looking for someone on the inside."

Tiger nodded and left. Snake didn't like where this was going. Everything just felt so twisted. Whoever had hired Puma to do business with Skelter was very good at hiding and it was getting to the point that Snake wasn't sure they were going to find this person. The best they could hope for was finding Wolf and Tom.

00000

Alex watched as Eagle mumbled drunkenly in his sleep. They really needed to take his pain medication down a notch. Jack had left for some food and Alex was starting to worry about her as well. She was pale and deep bruises were starting to form under her eyes. She hadn't left the hospital since the night of the first attack. She was so scared and worried and there was nothing that she could do.

They were all worried about Tom. Wolf had been gone for so long there was no telling what condition they would find him in if they were able to find him at all. Alex could barely even think about Tom. He left the room, leaving Eagle with the lone SAS guard in the corridor and went to the lifts. Travelling two floors up he found what he was looking for.

The still alive and barely conscious intruder Eagle had tased. There was another guard in front of his door as well. Alex simply marched up to him.

"Fox wants to see you," he said simply. The guard looked at him skeptically. "I'll keep an eye out while you're gone." The man still didn't answer but nodded and left to go looking for Fox. These soldiers knew who Alex was and at the moment they weren't going to question him or his intentions. They probably should have though.

Opening the door, Alex slipped inside. The intruder was wired to several different machines. He was being treated for electrocution and for the other injuries he had sustained when he tumbled out of Alex's second story window. Closing the door, Alex took a moment to lock it. He didn't want to be interrupted.

When he walked towards the bed he noticed that the man was awake and was watching him curiously.

"I'm Alex Rider," he said quietly. The man's eyes widened a little in surprise. He obviously wasn't expecting Alex to show up in his room. "You're people hurt my family and kidnapped my friends. I want to know why."

"I don't know anything," the man rasped.

"Yes you do," Alex said. "You've heard of me. I can tell by your eyes. Tell me what I want to know."

"What's in it for me?"

"I have connections," Alex said not untruthfully. "I can find you a nice cushy prison cell somewhere no one will ever find you." In a situation like this, it was the best this man had to hope for. It was that or he was going to die at the hands of this Skelter person. There was no way for his employer to know that he wasn't talking. He was a loose end and loose ends had a way of dying.

"You're messing with something bad kid," the man said. "You and your friends."

"Skelter?"

"No," the man said. "That guy sticks to South America."

"You're talking about the leak. In the SAS."

"Yes. He's powerful and dangerous. K-Unit got too close to what was happening. That Wolf guy started to figure out that Skelter was working with someone in the SAS. He wouldn't let it go."

"How does Puma fit in?"

"Puma was approached simply because he was already in with K-Unit. It was pure luck that Snake's temporary replacement had a price. And a low one at that."

"He did it for the money," Alex stated and the man nodded. "Who is this guy? Who are you working for?"

"I never met him," the man said. "None of us ground soldiers did. We only ever called him the Agent."

"Where were you supposed to take me?" he asked.

"We weren't there for you," he said. "Your bedroom window just happened to be open. We were there for Eagle."

"Why Eagle?" he asked.

"Puma said he has the most computer training in the Unit," the intruder replied. "If anyone on that team was going to crack the security on the drive it was him. We figured he'd know where it was."

"Where is Wolf?" Alex pressed.

"I'm not telling you."

"Seriously?" Alex snapped. "You spill everything else but _this_ is what you're going to shut up about."

"This is the information you really want. It has the highest price."

Alex's eyes narrowed. He didn't like this man. He didn't particularly like _anyone_ whose loyalty was up for sale. But they were running out of time and Alex made a split second decision. He smiled, quite ruthlessly, and called on everything he knew about interrogation.

00000

Fox stormed off the lifts and down the corridor to the intruder's hospital room. He didn't know what Alex was doing but the boy had known it was something he'd have to do alone. That worried Fox. When he got to the door he found it closed and locked. He pounded on the wood.

"Cub! Open this door!"

He stopped for a moment and listened. What he heard made his stomach drop. Whining and crying.

The soldier backed up a pace and brought his leg up to kick the door in. It was flimsy and gave way instantly. Alex was seated beside the bed calm as could be and the intruder was writhing in pain on the bed. Alex's hand was resting on the man's morphine drip. He had clearly turned it off leaving the intruder to feel every bit of the aftermath of being electrocuted by five million volts. Fox thought it a form of torture.

"Cub! What are you doing?"

"Having a private conversation," he said calmly. "But you're certainly welcome to join us." Fox hadn't seen this side to Alex in a long time. The boy was on the job and he was willing to do that job no matter what it entailed. After all, this had become personal.

The man in the bed moaned in pain.

"It's simple really," Alex continued. "Give me an address, a _real_ address, and I'll turn your morphine back on. Surely that's more important than money at the moment."

"It's in the warehouse district!" he shouted.

"And where's the real location?" Alex pressed.

"That is the real location!"

"No, that's the location you were supposed to go to if everything worked out. But your plan failed and one of you was compromised. Where do you go for Plans B through Z?"

Fox crossed his arms and watched Alex work. It was a bit disturbing because of how young he was. Fox had worked with Alex before; he knew how well he did the job. But he'd also seen him as a kid. A regular kid. Once you saw Cub as a regular kid it was jarring to see him at work again. But he was still capable and he was determined to get his way.

And in the end, this for-hire gun didn't have what it took to outlast Alex Rider. He talked. Fox was out of the room, location in hand, before he could see Alex turn the man's morphine back on and ease his pain.


	23. Helter Skelter Part V

Wolf stared at the ceiling and tried to ignore the rumbling of his stomach. It had been at least a full day since his captors had allowed him to eat a sandwich that was little more than a slice of cheese and two pieces of bread. Hardly anything substantial. The only plus side to the long stretch of nothing was that he was no longer being tortured and that also meant that Tom was more than likely still okay.

However there was also thoughts about the flash drive rattling around in his head. He had never been able to get the stupid thing open but he had known that it was dangerous the second he'd held it in his hand. The first thing he had done when he stepped off the train in London was slip away and take out a locker at the train station. It had been the perfect hiding place: in a blind spot, not noticed by most people, and easily accessible to everyone on the team.

The last thing he had done was buy a hollowed out rosary (usually used to drugs) and left a message for Alex to find should anything happen to him. In fact, that rosary was the only thing that permanently lived in his emergency bag. He knew that Tom would eventually start shuffling through the stuff he'd put in. And he knew that Alex would probably be the one to find the message he'd left behind. He wondered if that had happened yet.

"Where is it?"

The door to his cell had burst open and he was suddenly face to face with a man he didn't know. He was tall, had dyed black hair, and dull brown eyes. He was wearing a simple suit but the watch on his left wrist spoke of wealth. He looked frazzled and quite frankly, scared. Wolf smirked.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "It wasn't where it was supposed to be?"

"No," the man snapped. "Who else knew about the locker in the train station? Who picked it up?"

"I didn't tell anyone about where it was."

"Liar," he shouted and crossed the floor to stand above Wolf. He raised his fist and brought it down on Wolf's jaw. His head snapped to the side and it felt as if a couple of his teeth had been knocked a loose. "You told someone! Who?"

"I didn't tell anyone," Wolf repeated, feeling his own temper beginning to rise. He pulled slightly at the metal cuffs anchoring him to the chair. "It's not my fault someone figured it out before you could get there."

The man leaned over Wolf, putting his face directly into Wolf's.

"Who would have figured it out?" he asked. "The doctor? Or how about the MI6 reject? It couldn't have been the computer hacker. I hear he's barely even conscious. Or how about the kid? Cub. The pride and joy of MI6 Special Operations and your ward's best friend? Yes, I think I'll start with him."

"Famous last words," Wolf replied but the stranger wasn't listening anymore. He was already out of the room and closing the door behind him. He smiled to himself and moved his fingers carefully to reveal a single paper clip lifted from the man's suit pocket when he had leaned too close.

00000

Alex looked out of the Boeing Chinook helicopter and listened to Fox issue orders through the headphones clasped tightly over his ears. He had already been told to stick with Fox throughout the upcoming raid and the man had even saw fit to hand him a gun, a simple Browning Hi-Power. It wouldn't do much good against a machine gun but Fox hadn't been comfortable handing the famed Cub anything that could be used outside of the realm of self-defense.

It was good enough for Alex though. His mind was blank and he could barely feel worry that Blunt would use this an opportunity to put him back in the field. It was worth it at this point. These people had most likely crippled Eagle. Wolf and Tom had both been betrayed and taken. He had lost too much to let something like Blunt and his tactics stand in Alex's way of getting his friends back.

The slight jarring of the sudden landing brought him back to the present and he shifted slightly so his bulletproof vest would be in a more comfortable position. The doors slid open and the twenty SAS soldiers slid out, moving fluidly across the grass, through a line of trees, and to the back field surrounding an abandoned mill on the outskirts of London. Alex followed Fox faithfully, Snake to his left and a man named Tiger to his right.

They crossed the field on elbows and knees, hidden by the overgrown wild grass and weeds. When they were close enough they paused and a single soldier went the rest of the way alone to wire the locked door with a simple charge that would blow the lock and allow them entrance. Another minute of silence and waiting, Alex heard the charge detonate and the soldiers stood as one. He and Fox were the last ones through and already there was gunfire and shouting.

Alex ducked behind a couple of crates and took stock of what he was seeing. They were in the loading dock of the old mill. An office looked down on where the trucks would have once sat. Several men were barricaded in that office and were shooting down on the SAS soldiers below. Already three of them were down, if not dead. There was no way anyone was going to be able to get up the steps to claim the high ground for themselves.

Knowing this, Alex looked around. At the top of the stairs, immediately below the window the shooters were using was an industrial fire extinguisher. It wasn't perfect, but it might give them enough cover. He took his gun from the holster, took careful aim, and fired.

The extinguisher exploded instantly sending up a plume of chemicals into the air and, more importantly, into the faces of the men shooting through the open windows of the office. Alex heard screaming as the chemical hit their eyes and smiled to himself.

"Nice one, Cub," Fox said as he moved from behind the crates to go deeper into the mill. Several other soldiers were already in the office subduing the gunman who were screaming about being blind.

"Thanks," Alex replied and followed him, Snake, and two others through a different door and deeper into the mill. They were now in the office section and made their way through cubicles that had clearly been occupied recently. Alex could see laptop chargers, old coffee cups, and the remnants of someone's breakfast that was so new it hadn't even attracted the fly buzzing around the room yet. There was also a few cots shoved in the corner for those who didn't have the luxury of leaving.

Fox instructed the two SAS soldiers Alex didn't know to move to the upper floors and try to clear them out with other soldiers making their way from loading dock. He, Snake, and Alex went through a different door that led down towards the storage lockers. Each one had a heavy metal door and cinder block walls. The perfect place to hold a prisoner.

This bottom level was cold and had the distinct smell of mold. The corridor was lit by temporary lighting and the bulbs cast small shadows everywhere that played tricks on the eyes. Snake silently broke away down a branch off the main corridor and Alex and Fox continued to move deeper into the storage area. There were rows and rows of storage lockers but most had their doors removed or were hanging by a single hinge. They kept moving until they finally came to a row and could hear muffled banging.

Giving a silent look of agreement Alex followed Fox down the barely lit corridor. As they neared the door they could see that it was bolted shut by a simple sliding blot. They wouldn't even need a key. Fox grabbed the heavy bolt and slid it back with a loud clang. The muffled banging immediately went silent and Fox carefully pushed the door open. However, he had barely stepped inside when the heavy metal door came flying back to hit him squarely in the face. He yelled and grabbed his now bleeding nose.

"Stop! Stop!" Alex yelled before the door could slam into Fox again.

"Alex?" came a weak voice and Tom stepped out from behind the door looking tired but completely fine.

"Tom!" he shouted not caring how much noise he made. They met each other in a hug that Tom didn't seem to want to let go of.

"I fink you bro'e ma no'," Fox snapped, pinching his nose and trying to stem the bleeding.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Tom said letting go of Alex and looking as if he really did regret his door slamming plan. "I was hoping you were going to be the big, scary guy with the bad sandwiches." Fox glared at him.

"Where's Wolf Tom?" Alex asked.

"I don't know. I never saw him. They set up a camera to broadcast a live feed of me to wherever he was. He may not even be here."

"He should most likely be here," Alex responded. "There's only so many places this guy can hide people everyone's looking for." Tom smiled at the knowledge that he was again the center of his government's attention.

"Well, then let's find this missing Wolf you speak of," he said dramatically fists on his hips and standing in a full superhero pose. Alex lifted an eyebrow.

"You and I are going upstairs," he replied as Fox nodded enthusiastically. "Fox and Snake are going to find Wolf."

"We can do that too," Tom said just as dramatically and still in superhero pose. Fox shook his head, huffed, and took his hand off his still bleeding nose to properly hold his assault rifle. He then left without a word, knowing that Alex could take care of getting Tom back above ground.

"I think he might be mad at you," Alex warned as they began walking towards the main corridor that led to the stairs. Tom shrugged.

"Meh. It was a good plan though wasn't? The whole door to the face thing?"

"Yeah," Alex replied. "Until you whacked Fox in the face."

Tom opened his mouth to reply but was never able to get the words out. They had turned a corner and come face to face with a gun. Alex froze and stiffened, his hand tightening around his own gun but he didn't raise it. Tom squeaked and went wide eyed. The man holding the gun in Alex's face was in a simple suit but had one of the nicest watches Alex had ever seen on his left wrist.

"Agent," he greeted, taking an educated guess as to this was.

"You must be Cub," he responded. "The famous Cub." Thankfully Tom, who had no idea what this man had been up to, kept quiet.

"That's me," he responded slowly wondering how he was going to be able to bring up the gun in time to save himself from a bullet to the face. "I'm just glad I can finally put a face to the name."

"Hmph," the Agent snorted. "Yes, Wolf has been circling for some time now. I knew it was only a matter of time before I had to kill him but I never imagined I'd be able to take Cub with him."

Alex's breath hitched at the Agent's words. If the man was telling the truth then Wolf was most likely already dead. He heard Tom make a small noise somewhere in between a sniffle and a squeak.

"Must be a real treat for you. Meeting real soldiers."

The Agent smirked at the jab but ignored it. Alex eyed him coldly. The man was getting ready to make a move. He needed to stall. Tom's life depended on it.

"What are you doing? Working with someone as psychotic as Skelter?" he asked, trying to make it sound as if he actually cared.

"Have you ever met him?"

"No," Alex replied. "And I don't want to."

"Wise choice, kid," the Agent nodded, looking amused. "Skelter is pure crazy but he has money. Good money."

"So you're just another quack up for sale," Alex snapped. "Original."

"It doesn't have to be original to work," the Agent replied unfazed. "And besides giving Skelter all the guns he needs was great money. If that bastard Wolf hadn't been so determined to find me none of this would have happened."

Alex didn't respond but he did take a small step to his right so that Tom was further away from him. If the Agent was going to shoot, he didn't want the bullet to exit out of him and into Tom.

"He just wouldn't stop. Even after I threatened his friends."

"What?" Tom asked, finally entering the conversation despite himself.

"Oh yes," the Agent responded, nodding. "I left a nice little warning with that girl. Eagle's girl."

"Jack," Alex said forcefully.

"Yes, her. The stupid American didn't even notice when my guys slipped a vial of poison and a note into her purse at the market place. Just kept on shopping."

Tom looked over at Alex, confused, but Alex was too shocked to try and communicate with him. How long had the Agent been circling around them? Why hadn't Jack told him that she had been so clearly threatened? Why hadn't Eagle? The Agent read his expression.

"They didn't tell you," he cooed, overly pleased that he had thrown the very famous Cub through a loop. "Looks like someone doesn't have the respect he thought he did."

Alex didn't respond. He didn't need to. So he just smirked.

"What?" the Agent asked, perturbed that Alex wasn't biting.

"That's really gonna hurt," Tom told him. The Agent cocked his head to the side, a confused expression on his face. But he didn't have long to wait for an explanation as an old piece of pipe came crashing down on his head. He went limp and fell forward. The two boys jumped out of the way of his dead weight and the gun went clattering away. Alex picked it up and handed it to the person with the pipe. The man was bruised, dirty, and ragged looking. His clothing was torn in places and there was dirt on his hands and face as if he'd spent some time on the ground. He looked wild and, more importantly, he looked angry.

"Wolf!" Tom shouted and hugged his guardian quite forcefully. Then he kicked him in the shin.

"Ow, Tom! What the hell?" Wolf replied angrily.

"That's for stuffing me in that stupid closet-hole! It was way too dark in there!"

"You're alive aren't you?"

"Because Alex found me! And I may have accidentally broken Fox's nose by the way."

Wolf just glared at him and then turned on his heel and began to walk towards the stairwell. The two boys looked at each other, shrugged, and followed leaving the unconscious Agent for Fox and Snake to find as they made their way back to the stairs.

00000

"Why didn't you tell me about the threats?" Alex asked calmly. He didn't have the heart to yell at Jack right now. They were sitting in a couple of chairs by Eagle's bed. She had grabbed his hand when he'd brought up the poison vial in her purse and hadn't let go since. They were the only ones in the room, the door closed, and had a snoring Eagle as background noise. Wolf and Tom were both being treated in the room next door. Wolf had originally insisted on separate rooms, citing Tom's complete inability to be quiet. Nobody really cared though. They were stuck together.

"I didn't want to worry you," she said. "At first I thought it was some sort of sick joke. I was getting text messages at night and emails. But there was nothing about you or Andy. They weren't overtly threatening. Just a little weird."

"They were stalking you?" Alex asked, horrified at both the thought and that she hadn't told him.

"In a way," she said. "After I found the vial and the note I gave them Andy. It was filled with a poison that this Skelter person likes to use every now and then. Andy freaked out. He wanted me to tell you immediately but I just couldn't. You were doing so well with school and life in general. You were finally in a good place. I didn't want to ruin it. Especially since Andy said he and the guys could take care of it. I never imagined any of this could happen."

She was crying by then. Silent tears that made Alex's bullet wound hurt a little.

"I understand Jack," he said and meant it. After all, she had tried to protect him in any way she could over the years. And it wasn't as if she had done nothing. She had given it K-Unit to handle. And while Alex would have preferred to be kept in the loop, he understood why they hadn't included him. It was K-Unit's enemy that had caught up with them and it was their job to fix the problem. But they were still his friends and he just wished that he had been able to do something for them. He wished he was capable of protecting them.

"Where am I?"

Both Alex and Jack twisted back around towards the bed where Eagle was squinting at them.

"Andy!" Jack exclaimed and jumped up to hug him. He hugged her back, just with much less force.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You were run over by a car," Alex told him, getting up to stand by the bed. Eagle looked tired but more or less sober. They had finally lowered his pain medication dosage and after a very long sleep he was coming back to his senses.

"In the house?" he asked, confused. Alex smiled. Eagle clearly didn't remember anything and Alex let Jack explain the initial attack. Then Alex went through the entire last few days.

"My God, I slept through all that?"

"You weren't asleep," Alex said. "You were just really high."

"So what happened to the Agent?" Eagle asked.

"The SAS took him," Alex told him, repeating what Fox had told him. "And they found a bunch of stuff in the mill about Skelter. Fox said something about taking him out in his treehouse. I don't know what he meant. Oh, and Wolf is getting a medal."

"For what?" Eagle asked. "Stubbornness? Because he's no detective."

"I know," Alex said, amused. "I'm the one that found the flash drive and found the guy to crack it. Smithers has found tons of stuff. Whoever Wolf's informant was, he was good at what he did."

"What about me?" Eagle asked. "How are my injuries?"

Jack looked at him, quite heartbroken.

"Your leg was badly damaged Andy," she said gently and that was all she would say without the doctor. But Eagle knew.

His SAS career was over.

00000

"Tom," Wolf snapped, flexing his burned fingers. The electrical shocks had caused some damage but the doctor was hopeful. "I'm not watching that."

"But there's nothing else on!" Tom whined without ever taking his eyes off of the trashy reality television show.

"There's plenty of other things on," Wolf argued. "Turn on the news."  
"Why? It's always the same stuff. Some politician slept with a prostitute, another one committed fraud, and that celebrity is going to rehab. The world hasn't changed during our time in captivity Wolf."

"You were gone for two days."

"My point exactly," Tom said, smiling to himself for besting Wolf. The soldier rolled his eyes and gave the teen in the next hospital bed a long look. Tom's eyes were ringed with dark circles, there were bruises on his arms where the Agent's men had grabbed him forcefully, and there was a look on his face that Wolf wasn't used to. The boy looked scared and he had every right to look that way but the look worried Wolf nonetheless.

Tom wasn't someone that dealt with emotion very predictably. Wolf wasn't looking forward to the next few weeks of recovery. But Tom was alive, he was alive, Eagle was alive, and Skelter would likely be dead in a few weeks. Not only that, but they had rooted out a traitor in the SAS.

Despite all the terror and maiming and kidnapping everything had worked out in the end.

Although Fox was demanding some sort of recompense for his broken nose.


	24. The Reporter

Probably the most difficult part of moving on was, ironically, the crushing feeling of being left behind. Eagle may have no longer been a field member of SAS and was waiting for his honorable discharge papers but he was definitely having a difficult time with the fact that the rest of K-Unit was already out in the field. He would never work with them again and it was killing him.

The injury he could live with. Walking with a limp for the rest of his life he could live with. Hell, the disfiguration of the skin and muscle in his leg he could live with. But not being with his friends-his teammates-in the field was something he was having trouble with. They had been together from the very beginning and there many things that they had shared that no one else would ever really understand.

Tom and Alex were one of things.

Helter Skelter was another one of those things.

Eagle didn't want to be left out of any more those things. He wanted to be there. Until the end.

But life hasn't worked out that way and while he was grateful-very grateful-that his luck had held long enough to still be alive, the thought of what to do now left him in a quandary. Although, he didn't have long to sit around and think about his life choices. Because this was the Rider home. And the Rider home was anything but calm.

00000

He stomped up the hallway to answer the ringing doorbell. Why this person felt the need to ring the doorbell continuously was beyond him. After all, people were still sleeping. It didn't matter that it was one in the afternoon. People recovering from crippling wounds were trying to sleep off their medication.

Eagle yanked open the door, fully prepared to his cane in a threatening manner if need be and froze when a flash of light went off in his face. He blinked, recognizing it as a camera flash which was the only reason the person holding the camera wasn't being hit with a medical cane. He raised an eyebrow sardonically at the person knowing full well that he probably looked a strange sight in sweatpants, no shirt, mussed hair, and bleary eyes.

"Who are you?"

"Harry Bulman," the man replied happily enough. Too happy. It was suspicious.

"Am I supposed to know that name?"

"No, but I know your's Mr. Rosten."

Eagle stared at him, unimpressed.

"Or should I call you Eagle?"

That had his attention and the ex-soldier pulled himself together long enough to peer at the man in front of him. Harry Bulman was clean cut, not rich based off his clothes, and not a laborer by the looks of his hands and shoes. He had the skin of a man who had once spent a lot of time in the sun but that was long ago. Eagle could see tan lines on his wrist where his button down was riding up which meant he wasn't the type of man who was a tourist.

In fact, he had the distinct air of an international reporter.

"Reporter," he stated. Bulman blinked in response.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"No comment," Eagle sneered, uninterested in being polite. He started to slam the door but Bulman stopped it with his hand. Eagle glared first at the hand on his front door and then at the man that hand belonged to.

"I'm here to talk to Cub."

Eagle's heart leapt into his throat and he could feel a slight rush of panic. Cub was the British government's most well kept secret. What was a reporter doing with that name?

"Who?" he asked, playing dumb on instinct. Bulman didn't buy it.

"Oh come on," he chided. "Cub. The enigmatic Cub. MI6's favorite weapon. Word on the street is that you worked with him once."

"There is no word on the street about Cub," Eagle told him, glad to note that Bulman didn't seem to know that Cub was a teenager or that he lived in the house. That, or he was playing his hand close to his chest. "Where did you hear that name?"

"I know some people," Bulman responded and Eagle huffed. Of course he did.

"Well, I would cut ties with those people," Eagle said. "Because they're feeding you bad information."

"I don't think so," Bulman responded. "You know him. I know you do."

Bulman reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to Eagle who knew immediately that it was a photograph based on the paper stock. Unfolding it he tried his best to wipe his face clear of his surprise. Bulman was good. It was a picture of Alex.

A school photo that Eagle recognized. He'd signed the check for the picture package after all. Jack had one hanging on the fridge and had even saw fit to stuff one in Eagle's wallet. The rest were in America.

"It's curious," Bulman said reveling in the suppressed reaction from the ex-soldier, "how you came to be his guardian."

"I'm not his guardian," Eagle spat. The man more than likely already knew that. He just wanted to see what Eagle would do. He was trying to gauge the relationship between Eagle and Alex. Eagle was fairly certain as to why too.

"Oh? His handler then?"

"What do you want?"

"I want awards and fame and money," Bulman said with a sickly sweet voice that set Eagle's teeth on edge. "And when I write a tell-all article about a teenaged spy and the adults in his life who let it happen, I will have all those things and more. Smile."

With that Bulman snapped another photo and left the stoop before Eagle could blink the spots out of his eyes.

00000

Eagle sat on the couch for the next few hours, good leg bouncing with nervous energy, and waited for Jack or Alex to come home. However, when the door finally opened and a teenager entered the living room it wasn't the teenager he wanted to talk to.

"Oh, it's you," he said, disappointment clear. Tom gave him a funny look.

"Well, hello to you too. I had a wonderful day thanks for asking." Eagle glared at him. "What?"

"Where is Alex?"

"He has detention," Tom replied. "He accidently caught Mr. Topez's toupee in a fishing wire."

"Why did he have a fishing wire?" Eagle asked, momentarily distracted.

"We needed the wire to hang the t-rex off the side of the railing." Eagle stared wanting to ask and knowing that he shouldn't. "Anyway," Tom continued. "Why are you so grumps?"

"I'm not grumps."

"Whose grumps?" Tom simpered.

"Tom!" Eagle snapped and then took a deep breath in order to calm himself while Tom just looked satisfied with himself. Not for the first time did he wish that Wolf was here. He had never really had to deal with Tom on his own. Wolf had always been around to threaten the kid with something that would actually work.

But Eagle didn't really know that much about Tom. He knew a few things sure like the quirks and the backstory. Wolf was the one that knew _everything_. And Eagle meant everything. Sometimes he thought Wolf could read Tom's mind which was a scary thought considering that Tom's mind was a snake pit.

"Okay, seriously," Tom said, cutting Eagle from his train of thought. "What happened now?"

"A reporter," Eagle told him and handed him the surveillance photo. "He knows about Cub and probably you as well. He plans on writing a tell-all article that will expose us all."

"Well, it was bound to happen eventually," Tom said, thoroughly surprising Eagle. He had thought the boy would be as shocked as he was.

"You considered this?"

"Of course," Tom said with a tone that meant Eagle also should have thought of it. "So did Alex. And Wolf. There's even a plan."

"Plan?" Eagle asked, alarmed. Was Wolf sitting in his new flat scheming with these two? Or was Tom just telling him everything?

"Yeah, Operation Amazeballs. You should tag-along. It calls for a person with a legal driver's license." Tom said all of this with a distracted air about him as he pulled out his iPhone (a gift from his father) and clicked onto the internet. "What was this guy's name?"

"Harry Bulman," Eagle replied, unable to do anything but play along. Despite having been through similar craziness before Eagle always found it jarring.

"Harry Bulman," Tom said and then rattled off the man's facts. "In his thirties, used to be a member of the SAS, now a war correspondent. Has won several local journalism awards but nothing too big. Lives in London. Perfect."

"Hmm," Eagle hummed thoughtfully. If this man had once been in the SAS then he probably still had plenty of friends in the organization. Friends with lips that were far too loose and trusting. It sat very ill in Eagle's stomach. After all, they had been burned by one of their own before. He hated to think he was going to have face something similar with his friends out of the country. He pulled out his own mobile and clicked through his contacts.

Choosing one carefully, he pressed send.

"Hey Andy!" greeted a very happy person on the other end. Eagle smiled. Panther was a good friend and he was also very popular. He was probably the exact person he needed to call for information.

"Hi John," he responded and after a few moments of pleasantries and questions about his leg, Eagle got down to business. "Have you ever heard about a reporter named Harry Bulman?" The sudden silence on the other end was very telling.

"Caught up with you did he?" Panther asked with a sigh. "I'm sorry, man. I should have warned you."

"Probably, yeah," Eagle responded snarkily. "What do you know about him?"

"He's small time really," Panther replied. "But somebody let slip about two kids staying at Brecon Beacons a while back and he's been sniffing around ever since. He approached me about a month ago. He asked about both Cub and Accomplice. Luckily, he didn't have any clue who Accomplie was. He thinks it's another agent."

"Small miracles," Eagle responded.

"Yeah. I was going to let you know about it but then Wolf was taken and I quite honestly forgot."

"It's fine," Eagle told him and really it was. He could understand forgetting about Bulman. "Do you know where he lives?"

"Why? You gonna shot him?" Panther joked and then fell into an uneasy chortle. "You aren't though are you?"

"Oh course not," Eagle smirked and looked Tom dead in the eye. "I have something much better."

"What?"

"I'm going to throw Accomplice at him and then call in MI6 to clean up the mess." Tom smirked back at him, bouncing on his toes in excitement. He heard Panther sigh but he gave the address up easily enough.

"He had a party there once," Panther told him. "That's where he cornered me about the boys."

"Thank you, buddy. I appreciate it."

"Don't worry about it."

00000

"How stupid do you have to be to invite and then corner a SAS soldier in your own home?" Tom asked.

"Pretty stupid," Eagle replied. They were sitting in Jack's Mini watching the front door of the apartment building across the street. "Although I think it's more cockiness than anything else."

"Maybe," Tom said, thumbs flying across the screen of his mobile without even looking. Eagle wondered how often he texted in order to achieve a skill like that.

"So what exactly does this plan entail?" Eagle asked, annoyed that he had driven all this way without any sort of knowledge about the plan.

Tom put down his mobile long enough to look up at the flat window.

"That," Tom said and pointed to a man crawling out of the second floor window and making a wild jump to the pavement below. Eagle winced at how the man's ankle twisted but he didn't have long to feel sympathy when he noticed that it was Harry Bulman. He started the car and peeled out of his parking spot to follow a limping Bulman down the street.

He was able to corner him at the end of the street and rolled down the window to speak to a thoroughly terrified reporter.

"Get in," he said.

"No!"

"Get in," he repeated with much more force and venom. Bulman gulped, looked over his shoulder, and then back at Eagle. It only took him a moment to decide that Eagle was the less of two evils. He slipped into the back seat and shut the door with a loud bang.

"Go to the park," Tom told him. Eagle glanced at him and considered putting up a fuss but in all honesty he was having a pretty good time. It was like being back in the Unit. Snake with his plans; Fox with his smooth moves; Wolf with his brute intimidation; and him, with his back-up for all of them. Suddenly, he was a back-up of another kind and while it was completely different he couldn't help but enjoy it for what it was.

So he settled into the seat, pointed the car towards the park, and listened closely to Tom's maneuvering.

"So, Mr. Bulman," Tom started, peering through the seats at the uncomfortable man in the back. "I see you've completely missed the part about all the blackmailers and evil people who _didn't_ come out on top after tangling with the great and mighty Cub." Eagle almost snorted.

"Wh-who are you?" Bulman stammered. His eyes were really wide and in the rearview mirror Eagle could see that he was sweating and his left eyelid was twitching. Gone was the confident reporter from the stoop.

"I am the Accomplice," Tom told him. Eagle wondered when the kid had learned to be so calm, cold, and collected. Had he learned it from Alex or Wolf? "Cub's Accomplice. And I would like a word with you." He turned around in his seat leaving Bulman in the back to sweat and cower. When they got to the park they all got out and went to a bench not far from the car.

Eagle limped a little bit behind them. Tom was the only one who took a seat on the bench. He looked perfectly relaxed. Eagle stood next to him both hands resting comfortably on the top of his cane. Bulman stood in front of Tom looking like he was about to receive a stern scolding. Eagle tried to suppress laughter.

"Mr. Bulman are you aware of what printing your story could do to this country?" Eagle asked, not content to wait for Tom to form a line of thought in his ADHD head.

"Shock, disgust, sweeping change," Bulman spat. "Nothing that shouldn't have happened two years ago when Cub first showed up at Brecon Beacons. How can you live with yourself? Willingly working with a child in those conditions?"

"How can you live with yourself?" Tom snapped. "He's finally gotten out and you're going to throw him back in and put everyone he knows and loves in danger. You'll probably be the reason people start dying. But that's okay. Because you'll have awards and money and fame. So cut the crap about morals and what not. No one here believes that."

"What do plan on doing with me?" Bulman asks and he looks as if he's moments away from dropping to his knees and begging for his life, dignity be damned.

"Nothing," Eagle responded and Tom nodded along. "You can leave anytime you want."

"But what about the article?"

"Oh, that's over," Eagle responded. "See you may have friends with loose lips but I happen to know some people too. One phone call and no one will ever know you ever even existed."

Bulman's eyes widened considerably.

"Where are all the materials for your article?" Eagle asked.

"Seriously?" Bulman asked, incredulously. Tom snorted in laughter and Eagle glared at him.

"Where is his material Tom?" he asked.

"Does it really matter?" Tom shrugged and stood up. "We should go."

Bulman glared at them but Eagle paid him little heed. He was much more interested in trying to kill Tom with nothing but his piercing gaze. How did Wolf handle this kid? He was thoroughly obnoxious.

While Eagle was busy glaring at Tom Bulman was busy trying to pull something out of his jacket pocket. The ex-soldier spotted it and turned sharply. He brought up the end of his cane and swung it down on Bulman's wrist with a sickening crunch. The reporter let out a cry of pain and the taser he had tried to draw on them went scattering away into the grass.

Bulman may have been SAS once but his training obviously hadn't stuck. It was probably for the best that he had quit before he had been killed. Eagle stared at him sardonically.

"I think you broke something!" Bulman shouted at him grasping at his wrist tightly.

"Whatever," was all that Eagle could bother saying before using his cane to hobble back to the car. "Tom! Car!"

"Yes, sir," Tom mumbled and all but ran at the car. He was inside, buckled, and sunk down in his seat before Eagle could even get his hand on the door handle.

00000

When they got back to the house Jack was standing in the corridor, arms crossed, and a tight scowl on her face.

"Hi," Eagle greeted lamely. He knew he was in trouble and at this point he could only hope that he wouldn't have to sleep on the couch. "Why so grumps?" Jack's eyes narrowed and she disappeared into the living room without a word.

"I think you're in trouble," Tom supplied helpfully.

"I know," he responded.

They went into the living room to find Alex on the couch, his leg propped up on the coffee table, and an ice pack taped to his knee. Jack must have gone upstairs because she wasn't in the room. That was not a good sign for Eagle.

"What happened to you?" Tom asked, half laughing.

"Operation Amazeballs needs some work," Alex told him. "Bulman tried to tase me and I tripped over his desk chair when I dodged it. Twisted my knee."

"You were in Bulman's flat?" Eagle snapped, concerned. It was one thing to give Bulman a ride to the park and leave him there. Breaking and entering was something quite different.

"Tom texted me about Bulman and gave me the address," Alex explained. "He let me in. Thought I was there to do an interview."

"Seriously?" How thick could a person get?

"No kidding," Alex said. "But after he fell out of his window I was able to break into his computer. I think I got everything. How did your part go?"

"Good," Tom reported. "I think Eagle spooked him enough into letting it go. We'll see though. You don't think he stashed anything somewhere else?"

"No," Alex replied. "Besides, I looked at the 'evidence'. He didn't have anything concrete. That's why he needed the interviews. As long people keep their mouths shut everything should be alright."

Eagle remembered that he had a few phone calls to make in order to make sure that no one said anything to more reporters. Even reporters who had once been SAS.

"How's the knee?" Eagle asked. Alex smirked at him.

"It's not me you have to worry about," he said. "Jack is pissed that you took her car to a blackmailers flat. Especially with your leg. And in your pajamas." He looked down at himself. He still had on his sweat pants, his hair hadn't been combed, and he hadn't even put on a shirt underneath his open jacket. He was lucky to have remembered shoes. It was the medication. It was still a little strong.

Eagle sighed. Jack was having just as much trouble coming to terms with Eagle's injury as he was. It was probably worse for her considering she was the only one who actually saw and still remembered every moment of it.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I'll take care of it." He started up the stairs, slowly and slightly painfully. He was halfway up when Alex gave him a parting shot.

"I'll get the bedding for the couch!"

"Shut up, Alex!"


	25. Father's Day

Tom and Alex had been friends long enough to know even the darkest secrets the other person had. Alex had made sure that such a friendship was possible when he had told Tom about MI6 and the SAS and everything inbetween. It was extremely dangerous for Tom to know such things and while Alex never told him every detail Tom knew enough that MI6 was always watching.

But Tom had secrets of his own. Things MI6 certainly weren't interested in but things that were important to him. The secrets of childhood: special handshakes, first crushes, embarrassing moments that every teenager had but didn't want to admit to. Those were the things that Alex knew and a great deal more as well.

Alex knew about Tom's mom and the long string of worthless men she paraded through her home. He knew about Tom's dad and the seemingly complete disinterest he had in any of his kids. And he also knew that it hadn't always been that way with this family. Life and death had a way of changing a person.

And Tom had certainly changed over the last year that his father had been more or less absent after the finalization of the divorce. He was getting back into school, he was shaping up to be a football player universities noticed, and he was surrounded by people who knew how to be friends and family. He would have never admitted it but Tom needed the people in his life more than anything. From Alex to Jack to all of K-Unit. They had been through a lot together and more than anything Tom needed them to keep him from falling through the cracks.

Alex knew all of this.

That was why he was worried when he noticed that Tom's father was trying to get in touch with him and that Tom had basically decided to ignore him at every turn.

"Are you going to answer that?" Alex asked one night as they watched television in Wolf's new flat. The soldier had finally found one with two bedrooms and a really strong front door. Getting Wolf to pick a flat was a nightmare because the man wouldn't even consider looking at one unless he could immediately spot two emergency exits. His paranoia would have been the cause of much teasing from Tom and Alex if Wolf's plans hadn't already proved more useful than crazy.

"No," Tom said and silenced the vibrating iPhone. A few seconds later the mobile dinged with a new voice message.

"How long has he been calling you?" Alex asked, knowing that this was a delicate subject but also knowing that Tom was the type of person who always felt better after talking about what was bothering him.

"A couple of weeks now I think," Tom replied disinterestedly.

"What does he want?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe you should find out," Alex told him and leaned over to pick up the mobile from the coffee table and handed it Tom. "It may be something you'll want to hear."

"Probably not," Tom mumbled but checked the message anyway. When he was done he set the mobile back down on the table and continued watching television as if nothing was wrong. Alex could plainly see there was but didn't bother asking. Tom would eventually tell him.

Just like always.

00000

"Tom! Answer your stupid phone!"

Wolf was used to shouting at Tom to do something or other but lately the kid had seemed more distractible than ever. He was quiet, getting lost in thought, but generally being a pleasant person. It was starting to worry Wolf who couldn't recall ever seeing this side of Tom before. An overprotective goofball with a past no one really knew about was the kid he was used to dealing with.

As Wolf's dinner finished heating up in the microwave he finally heard the mobile stop ringing. However, before he could start eating his burrito over the sink the land line rang. Wolf stared at it. He didn't have a personal mobile and the only people he gave the landline to was companies he paid bills to. He was all caught up on those so, logically, that phone shouldn't be ringing.

He put his burrito on a napkin and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he answered curiously.

"Yes, may I speak to Tom?"

The voice was older, a man, and unfamiliar. Warning bells went off in Wolf's head.

"Who is this?" he asked with perhaps an unnecessary amount of force.

"Jonathan Harris. I'm his father. Is this Rey?"

"Yeah," Wolf replied tensely. Wolf had never met Tom's father. They had never even spoken. The only parent Wolf had ever been forced to deal with was Tom's mother who had signed all of the paperwork they had needed for Wolf to take guardianship. She had been a sad woman and more than willing to separate her kid from her love life.

"I'm calling to talk about the guardianship."

"What about it?" Wolf asked.

"I'm contesting it."

Now that surprised Wolf. Jonathan had signed away all legal claims to his son. He hadn't contested the change in guardianship when it happened and he had been completely aware that Tom wasn't living with his mother for months before the papers had even been signed. At least, that was what Tom had told him.

Wolf heard a creak by the door and looked up to find Tom peering in at him, listening with a concerned look on his face. Wolf ignored him.

"Why are you contesting it?" he asked. _Why now?_ "Tom's been here for months and I'm not aware of any problems with the arrangement I worked out with his mother."

"Regardless, I'm his father and I want him back." Wolf couldn't fault the man for that. What he could fault him for was the last eight months of silence.

"Regardless," Wolf replied throwing the man's tone back into his face. "You gave up your parental rights and I'm not prepared to give up mine."

"Well, then," Jonathan said smoothly. Wolf recognized the tone from back before he had been close to Tom. It was a tone that meant something sneaky was about to happen. The kid must have learned it from his father. "I guess I'll be seeing you in court."

"See you then," Wolf told him sweetly and hung up without waiting for any sort of reply. He turned to find Tom still in the doorway but didn't bother to say anything to him. He simply went back to eating his burrito over the sink and by the time he was done Tom had shut himself in his room for the night.

Wolf figured he was devising some sort of evil plan with a goofy name and juvenile maneuverings. He ignored the noises of a keyboard and low mumbling that came through their adjoining wall in favor of emailing a pretty girl he'd met at the tea shop the day before. Tom would sort himself out.

Hopefully.

00000

That next Saturday found Tom and Alex on the tube making their way to a part of the city they didn't often frequent. It was a nice neighborhood. Opulent even. It also happened to be the neighborhood that Tom's father lived in with his new wife and baby.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Alex asked watching his friend with concern as Tom looked at the door of the house with utter dread. "I can do this on my own if you need me to."

"No," Tom said, shaking his head. "I need to do this. He's my dad."

"Alright," Alex replied knowing how important familial closure was and what it would do if you never had it. He patted Tom on the shoulder and the two of them climbed the steps to the front door.

A young woman around Jack's age answered the door. She was pretty. Blond, blue eyed, nicely dressed and manicured, and with diamonds in her ears and on her ring finger. She was the exact opposite of Mrs. Harris who had dark coloring, forgot to bathe sometimes, and didn't have very many manners. Mrs. Harris was wild; this woman was society. Mr. Harris had clearly married up.

"Can I help you?" she asked smiling but it was rather telling that there wasn't a hint of recognition in her eyes. She didn't know who Tom was.

"We're looking for Jonathan," Tom told her. "He lives here right?" He looked down at the address in his hand and then back to the equally confused woman.

"Yes," she replied nicely but uncertainly. "May I ask who you are?"

Tom sort of just stared at her as if he had forgotten his own name.

"I'm Alex Rider," Alex said, jumping in quickly. "And this is Tom. Jonathan's his father." Her face lit up in understanding and she smiled widely.

"Oh, you're Tom!" she exclaimed. "I''m Mandy. I've heard so much about you. I was so disappointed that you weren't able to come to the wedding." Tom had actually been in Brecon Beacons at the time of the wedding and his father had given him a really hard time about missing it without a plausible explanation. Tom had eventually just told him that he wasn't interested in leaving his heartbroken mother home alone to party it up with the man that had left both of them.

The two of them had refused to speak to each other after that. Except now Jonathan seemed determined to rekindle some sort of relationship with the only child he really had left. His daughter was dead from cancer and his other son had fled the country to get away from all of it.

"Yeah, sorry," Tom replied, finding his tongue. "Something important came up." It sounded rude to Alex and it probably did to Mandy as well but she didn't comment. Instead she invited them both inside and led them to a living room filled to the brim with nice decorations that stood in stark contrast to the baby toys scattered throughout the room.

"I would introduce you to Sam but I finally got him down for a nap."

"Who's Sam?" Tom asked, blankly. He was so nervous that he was no longer capable of putting two and two together and Alex winced at his friend's sudden inability to be charming. It wasn't the time nor the place to lose himself.

"Um, your brother," Mandy said nervously. She wasn't sure if she was the first one to tell Tom that his father had another child and Alex could see that it was frightening her. She wasn't sure what to do. "The baby."

"Oh, right!" Tom exclaimed finally realizing what he was doing. "Yes, Sam. I'll have to meet him later. I'm afraid we can't stay long."

"Oh," Mandy replied, sounding simultaneously relieved and disappointed. "Well, if you would like to take a seat I'll go get Jonathan. He's just working upstairs in his study." Tom huffed, nodded, and sat on the white couch more obnoxiously than necessary. But Alex didn't comment. It wasn't his place to.

Tom had never once made a comment about his Uncle or even his godfather no matter what his personal opinions about Alex's messed up family was. The least Alex could do was give Tom the same support and courtesy that his best friend had always given him.

The blond disappeared after they declined her offer for refreshments and a few moments of silence later they heard the couple approaching from upstairs.

"Boys!" Mr. Harris greeted brightly. He shook Alex's hand but Tom made no move to touch his father in any way and Mr. Harris just took it in stride. He sat down in an armchair opposite them and Mandy sat in another armchair next to Mr. Harris. "What a pleasant surprise. How are you doing Alex?"

"Quite well, sir. Thank you." The last time Mr. Harris had seen Alex was at his Uncle's wake.

"So what brings you boys here?"

"I'm here about the guardianship," Tom said curtly. Alex glanced at him. Tom was tense. It looked as if he was going to get up and run away any second. "You know, Rey's guardianship."

Mr. Harris tensed up as well and a ran a hand through his black hair. He looked remarkably like Tom though Tom was actually a fairly even mix of his mother and father. Mr. Harris was tall, domineering and very clean cut. Mrs. Harris was short and her dark hair had always been an uncontrollable blob of curls and waves. Mr. Harris had once loved that about her. Until he had changed.

"Yes," Mr. Harris said gently. "I figured he would have spoken to you about that."

"Actually, he didn't," Tom corrected him. "I just happened to overhear the conversation."

"Why wouldn't he tell you?" Mr. Harris asked, surprised.

"Because he doesn't think you're anything to worry about."

"Why not?"

Alex knew that it was because Wolf had friends in high places. Friends with much more power than Mr. Harris's new socialite friends. That combined with the fact that Mr. Harris had given up all rights to Tom as well as Tom's unfortunate knowledge of very sensitive state secrets meant that no one in either MI6 or the SAS wanted to see him leave Wolf's control.

But Tom was still a free citizen and in the end, it was actually up to him. He had the leverage to get his way if he so choose and back-up in the form of the much whispered about Cub. If Tom wanted Wolf's guardianship to end, it was going to end.

He looked at Tom sharply. They had never actually discussed if Tom would ever end the guardianship. He was certain that Tom would confide in him if he was thinking about it but they had never talked about what would ever make Tom want to do that. He had freedom at Wolf's place. The only thing Wolf really asked of him was decent grades and not to get arrested.

But Tom had been going back and forth in his head for the last few days. On the one hand, there was Wolf, a person he could actually talk to about what he knew and what had happened to him. And on the other hand, was his dad. The man that despite everything, Tom still loved because his dad was his dad and he finally wanted Tom just as Tom had wanted him. It was a decision that was weighing on him and as far as Alex knew it was something he hadn't talked about with anyone. This was a decision that he was determined to make on his own, for himself and no one else.

"I don't want the guardianship to end."

The one sentence did several things for everyone in the room.

Mandy looked at her husband with concern. Mr. Harris looked angry. Tom sunk back into the couch with relief after finally figuring out what he wanted. And Alex smiled softly at the ground.

He knew that later on Wolf would joke that he had been so close to getting rid of Tom and Tom would reply with some snarky comment about being the best ward anyone could ever have. They would bicker for a few minutes then start arguing about what to have for dinner.

They had a closeness that Tom would probably never have with his father ever again. There were too many sad memories of fighting and eight months of silence and half-siblings Tom had never met.

"It's not really up to you, son," Mr. Harris said softly as if he was gently trying to remind a child of their place. Tom's eyes snapped in anger. He was no longer a lost child pining for his daddy. He had seen and done things that Mr. Harris would never understand or even be allowed to know about.

"Except that it is technically up to me," Tom replied with such ferocity that Mr. Harris and Mandy were both visibly stunned into silence. "Because I know why Rey isn't nervous about you dragging him into a custody hearing. He knows that all I have to do is start telling the judge about what a crap father you've been. You gave me up without a fight. You told me never to talk to you again. _You_ don't get to pick and choose when you can be in my life. Not anymore."

Tom and Mr. Harris stared at each other intently neither wanting to be the first to blink. Alex heard the distinct sounds of a baby waking though the baby monitor on the side table and Mandy practically ran out of the room to get away from the tension.

"Rey isn't your family," Mr. Harris snapped.

"He might as well be," Tom said.

"But he's not," Mr. Harris continued. "And he spends half of his time out of the country anyway. How many weeks did you spend crashing at Alex's house last time he up and left?"

"He leaves for his job," Tom seethed. "And last time it was only a week and a half."

Alex would have smacked himself in the face if would have meant that Tom could have taken back that sentence. It had done nothing but prove Mr. Harris's point. Wolf wouldn't be allowed to explain his job to a court. That was if he was actually allowed to admit-on public record-that he was SAS. Wolf was a very high ranking operative and Alex doubted that a judge would except 'I can't tell you' as an excuse for not saying what he did for a living. It would all sound really sketchy.

"Regardless, here you would have a nice room and a private education. Not to mention two parents and a paid for university education. And the fact that your mother received full custody of you in the divorce is something any competent lawyer will be able to spin."

Tom looked at Alex desperately. They hadn't really had a plan for this discussion. And now the whole conversation was falling apart.

"That all might be true, Mr. Harris," Alex said, taking Tom up on his silent offer to butt into the conversation. "But the fact remains, that you signed _all_ of your parental rights over to Tom's mother. She wasn't granted full custody because the court saw fit to give it to her. You legally wiped out your claim as Tom's father and the court defaulted custody to her."

"And I regret that decision," Mr. Harris tried to continue but Tom had found his stride again.

"And then she signed over custody to Rey. My grades are back up, I haven't had any legal trouble, and I've already got university scouts sniffing around. You're going to have a hard time proving that his leave of absences as a _soldier_ are all that detrimental. You used to be around all the time and we all know what I was like then."

Both boys looked at Mr. Harris who seemed to be realizing just how much of a fight he was going to have to put up. Alex was sure that if he was able to bring MI6 into the argument, Mr. Harris would be dropping the case before they could get home for dinner. Speaking of which...

"We should go," Tom said, calmly looking at his watch. "I told Rey I'd be home in time to eat whatever he'd pulled out of the freezer."

"Yeah, and I still have a ton of maths to get through." They both stood up and started to make their way toward the front door. When he got to the entry way, Tom turned back to go back into the living room. He looked down at his still fuming father.

"By the way, Dad," he said. "Happy Father's day. I hope you're a better dad to the baby than you are to me."

Tom left with Alex after that.

He never went back to the house again.

00000

Tom never actually made it back to Rey's flat that night. He had instead gone to Alex's house to eat there. Over dinner the both of them told Jack and Eagle about what had happened with Tom's father.

"Like MI6 will ever let you leave Rey's guardianship," Eagle scoffed. "You're too much of a wild card. At least with Rey, there's a chance you want get kidnapped. Well, at least not again. And you definitely won't be able to get away with selling your story to a newspaper or something. You might still need to watch out for snipers though. "

"Andy!" Jack exclaimed, giving him a look that meant he was in trouble just as Alex ducked his head to hide his stifled laughter at the look on Tom's face. Apparently, he hadn't thought that MI6 would have a vested interest in who his legal guardian was. When Jack turned back to Tom her expression was much softer. "Just remember that family can sometimes be found in the strangest of places with the most unlikely people."

Her gaze was so intense that Tom managed not to ask if she had made that up or read it in one of her parenting books she tried to hide from them. So he just nodded and continued his meal.

But while he lay in the spare bed he used at their house, he thought about it a little more. Jack wasn't wrong. He would have never met Wolf if Alex hadn't been a super-spy. And he certainly wouldn't have moved in with Wolf if the oddness that surrounded them didn't exist. His life was a strange place and Wolf was an unlikely person and for some reason it all seemed to work.

00000

Wolf was on the couch, eating ice cream for breakfast, and watching old comedy reruns when Tom came through the door of the flat. Wolf eyed him over his spoon.

"Why do you spend the night at Alex's?" he asked. "Don't you spend enough time over there when I'm out of town?"

"They actually enjoy my company," Tom replied with an eyeroll. "Unlike your cranky butt."

"Andy told me about your dad." Tom sighed deeply.

"I'm starting to think his crippling made him into a gossip," he said and Wolf actually nodded as if it was a true possibility.

"And your dad called again to say he was still going to try for custody. I think your maniacal plans are starting to get a little shoddy there kid."

"My maniacal plans are just as good as ever," Tom exclaimed defensively, sitting down next to his guardian and taking both the spoon and the bowl right out of his hands. Wolf didn't bother to put out a fight as Tom dug in.

"Well, your talking didn't seem to work so maybe it's time to use one of those plans. Unless you really do want to live with your dad."

Tom looked at him with a confused expression.

"If you really talked to Andy, you know I don't."

Wolf waited patiently, with an expectant look on his face for Tom tell him what they both knew Tom would eventually have to say even though he didn't want to.

"Fine," he said, dropping the spoon into the ice cream bowl with a clang and an annoyed expression. "Will you please help me oh wise guardian of mine?"

"I'll make a phone call," Wolf said with a pleased smirk that made Tom roll his eyes.

"Why are you eating ice cream so early?" Tom asked him, knowing that Wolf would never let him do that.

"It's Father's Day," Wolf replied. "I get to do whatever I want."

Tom stared at him with an open mouth as the implications of what Wolf had just said hit him. He shouldn't have been so surprised. Alex had gotten Eagle a Father's Day present even though Eagle wasn't even his legal guardian but just the sometimes cranky soldier who spent the night once and never left.

He never did manage to respond to Wolf's comment but he did manage a smile. Wolf seemed to think it was enough. And that was all that mattered.

00000

**Happy Father's Day to all the men who stepped up to be the dad every child deserves. **


	26. The New Normal

Alex was perfectly aware that Eagle was going through a rough time after being benched from the SAS. The man had received his honorably discharged papers a little over a month ago and still hadn't managed to open the envelope to actually read them. Jack had said that he just needed some time to come to terms with what had happened but Alex was of the opinion that the man needed a distraction.

He didn't know what that should be and while stopping a blackmailing reporter had certainly helped to remind Eagle that he wasn't useless, the man was far from healed. It made Alex worry not because he was particularly worried that Eagle would hurt himself but because he was worried that Eagle would hurt Jack. Emotionally that was. But emotional hurt could be just as bad as the physical kind.

Jack had been through all of these terrible things with Alex before. She had been a rock as he'd transitioned back into a civilian. When he jumped under the table at a restaurant at the sound of a backfiring car Jack hadn't been even slightly embarrassed. She had simply glared at the manager until he went away and crawled underneath the table with him in order to properly convince him that someone wasn't out there with a sniper rifle.

Alex had been thoroughly embarrassed later on but she had told him not to be. There was nothing wrong with him and eventually he'd start to feel normal again. He just had to give it time and keep working at. He hadn't wanted to go to a MI6 therapist so she had spent hundreds of hours trying to teach herself how best to help someone who had seen the things he'd seen.

He thought she could work in government with agents and soldiers with psychological discharges. She was that good. So he trusted her that Eagle was going to be okay with time but he still couldn't help but feel protective. He liked Eagle; he could go so far to say that Eagle was family and proved himself to be so. But Jack was Jack, and Jack was his family in the same way that Tom was his family.

Sometimes his thoughts and feelings on it didn't seem rational considering that all of the original K-Unit had become very close in the near two years they'd been working and hanging out together. And yet, there was still a wall that Alex couldn't just dismantle because Eagle had confessed he was looking at engagement rings or because Wolf had managed to get permanent custody of Tom. He had been burned by family before and it would take several more years of healing before complete trust came back to him.

However, Eagle needed a distraction right now and Alex felt like he had to help him. So with not even the beginning of an idea in mind he recruited the ever reliable Accomplice and got to work researching on the internet.

00000

Eagle, Fox, Snake, and Wolf were all sitting on Wolf's couch eating junk food and watching Doctor Who when Tom had blown into the flat, dropped his pack, and tracked mud onto the floors. It was pouring rain outside and Wolf knew without seeing him that the kid was a mess.

"Shoes!" he shouted around a mouthful of Cheetos. "Don't ruin my new flat!" Snake and Fox grinned at each other. Eagle just looked at his empty beer bottle as if the sheer force of his will could refill it.

There was the distinct thunking noises of a pair of shoes hitting the floor and then they saw Tom streak past the doorway of the living room on the way to his room. The music started up after that and Wolf lasted a full minute before he pounded on the wall behind him.

"Turn that down!" he shouted. When the music volume went up instead Wolf sprang up and disappeared. He didn't come back but they were so used to such things none that them of saw fit to comment. Tom had most likely sucked Wolf into the vortex that was YouTube and they would likely see him after only a couple of hours. But the music did stop.

"Alex told me that you received your discharge papers," Snake said cautiously.

"I'm thinking of making him sign a confidentiality agreement," Eagle replied. Fox rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, mate," he said. "The kid's just worried about you." Eagle huffed and got up to limp into the kitchen and get another beer. He was severely disappointed and decided to steal what was left of Wolf's because-I-want-it cake. There was a certain amount of satisfaction in eating it over the sink, knowing that his friend would be giving him annoyed looks for the rest of the night.

"Andy?"

He turned to see Fox standing in the doorway and swallowed.

"What?" he said before polishing off the rest of the cake, licking his fingers, and wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. Fox didn't even blink at the complete and total lack of manners.

"What are you doing?" Fox asked.

"Stealing Rey's cake," he said ignoring the real question.

"You know what I mean," Fox said. "The papers came a month ago. Have you even thought about the job offer I got you?"

"I don't want to work at MI6," Eagle said. Fox had pulled some strings with his contacts at MI6 at gotten a job offer for Eagle hacking computers. Eagle wasn't actually that good at hacking computers but Fox said they needed someone for the basic, busy work no one else had time to do. Eagle thought it a waste of his time.

"Well, what else are you going to do?"

"I'll figure it out when I'm good and ready," he said a little more harshly than he'd meant to. Fox held up his hands and left the kitchen. There was a sudden banging as Tom's door flew open and then the kid was running back to the front door. Wolf followed him at a much more sedate pace but didn't offer any explanation as to where the both of them were going.

Eagle rejoined his equally confused friends as Wolf shut the front door behind the both of them. It wasn't unusual for Wolf to leave them in the flat alone if he ran to the market for something but he never left without telling them where he was going.

"Did he tell you where they were going?" Eagle asked. The other two shook their heads.

"Tom's with him so it's probably somewhere embarrassing," Fox supplied. Eagle was inclined to agree. The two wayward flatmates weren't back by the time they left and Eagle didn't pay their strange behaviour any mind.

00000

He got talked into a movie that Friday with Jack and Alex. Jack had insisted he go as part of a family night and he wasn't interested in arguing with her. Alex could tell immediately that he didn't want to leave the house and he knew that was exactly why she wanted him to go out. She knew that the worst thing Eagle could do was hide away in the house.

"What are we seeing?" Eagle asked.

"That chick flick thing," Alex replied.

"Thank you for the clarification," the man said and turned to the girl at the ticket window. "Three for that chick flick thing." She gave them an ugly look but guessed the right movie and slid the tickets under the protective glass with far more force than was polite.

They met Jack in the lobby and Alex led the way into the theater. He chose the seats with great care. Something by the aisle so Eagle could stretch his leg out if it cramped because he refused to sit in a handicapped chair. It was in the back by the door in case of either of them had a sudden panic attack. Also being in the last row meant that their backs were to the wall. There was no chance of an enemy sitting behind them.

It seemed a bit paranoid even in Alex's head but he knew that the between the two of them, there were two many chances that they didn't have to take. Paranoia usually led to longer lives for people like them. Alex knew it was difficult for Jack because she wanted to make sure her family got better without them giving up their safety measures.

"Why are we watching this?" Eagle mumbled. Alex rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wondered why Eagle had a tendency to be combative with Jack. He knew the man liked to rile her up with cute jokes and soft teasing. Maybe it was just how they flirted, though Alex had seen them flirting many times and this was not that. Maybe he didn't know what it was because he wasn't in love.

He watched as they had small bickering match, Jack trying to conceal her smile and failing horribly. And then there was Eagle who hadn't been interested in much of anything but the way her lips moved. His eyes lit up when they talked or when they bickered like they were doing now. All of his attention was completely on her and a small smile played on his lips as he watched her bounce up and down in her seat in the excitement of whatever she was talking about.

Alex wondered when Eagle was going to buy that engagement ring he'd been talking about. He was certain it was going to be any day now. Maybe after all the excitement of Fox's wedding finally died down. Regardless, he hoped it was soon. He rather liked Eagle; had even been calling him family for a while now. Eagle's name was on Alex's school papers as being allowed to pick him up from school and sign permission slips and everything.

As the movie progressed it became quite clear that they weren't going to have a good time. The person in front of them had a serious texting conversation going on and the bright little screen was illuminating the entire section. The guy's girlfriend was very angry if the way she was crossing her arms and scowling at the screen was any indication. Eagle leaned forward repeatedly to tell the guy to put the mobile away and the man repeatedly ignored him. The worst part was that the guy's ringtone was still on. It wasn't set loud but it was loud enough. When the mobile dinged again, Jack got up to find an usher. The entire movie theater was staring at the guy.

"Hey, put it away," Eagle said for what was probably the ninth time. Alex didn't much care. The drama they were starting was infinitely more interesting than what was happening on screen.

"Don't tell me what do man," the guy replied and slapped at Eagle's hand which was resting on the back of his seat. He had placed it there to leverage himself as he leaned forward. But as the man reached to slap it away Eagle's instincts kicked in and he grabbed the man's hand and twisted it so hard the man fell to the floor, crying in pain. The sounds attracted the entire theater.

The man leapt up at the same time Eagle did. Alex shot up in preparation of keeping the Eagle from killing the idiot and received a very solid punch to his temple for his trouble. He fell, hitting his head on the seat as he went down.

The man not have any skill but he had plenty of brawn and the punch left Alex seeing stars. He blinked up at the dark ceiling and apparently blacked out.

When he came to, the lights were on, the movie still playing, and Jack was leaning over him in concern. Eagle was being arrested and paramedics were leaning over the man with the mobile. His girlfriend was screaming and it was all really loud. He groaned as a stranger's face replaced Jack's and he felt like he was going to throw up. He probably had a small concussion. He forced himself to sit up.

"He should really see a doctor," the paramedic told Jack a few minutes later. Alex had managed to sit himself down in a seat right next to Eagle. In his confusion he thought they were going to finish the movie. The policeman had taken off the zip ties binding Eagle's wrist so that he could deal with Alex who was being as uncooperative as a two year old and everyone was too afraid to approach him in fear of aggravating the head injury.

Unfortunately, this set off the girlfriend who thought they were letting Eagle go and she started screaming about unfair pigs and suing people. This effectively distracted the policeman and Eagle took the opportunity to try to convince Alex to leave with the paramedics.

"Alex, don't shut your eyes," Eagle ordered grabbing the boy by the wrists and signaling to the paramedics to take him.

"Noooo," Alex whined completely unaware of how much of a fool he was acting.

"Alex you have to go," Eagle said but Alex had latched onto the sleeve Eagle's hoodie and refused to let go. He eyed the paramedics with suspicion and hissed like an angry cat when they came too close. It would have been hysterical had they all not been so worried about the kid's brain. "C'mon, kid."

He tried to pry off the kid's hand.

"Did the popcorn spill?" Alex mumbled.

"Don't worry about that," Eagle replied. The policeman was watching Eagle very intently at this point but he didn't seem mad. He seemed very concerned for Alex who was still being very uncooperative. He had decided to lean his head back and Eagle had to force it back up with a very firm hand on his neck. He got out of his seat and squatted down in front of the boy in an attempt to get him to focus.

"Alex I want you to listen to me very carefully," he said firmly. Jack was right behind him at this point, seeing how much trouble they were all having with the kid. She didn't interfere though. She knew that he could handle it and she trusted him to. "You've been hit in the head very hard. The paramedics want to take you to the doctor. I need you to let them."

"Don't want to," Alex replied, still mumbling. He was starting to fall unconscious and Eagle knew that they had to get to the hospital immediately. But an uncooperative Alex meant that he wasn't going to go anywhere he didn't want to. Not even in this condition.

"You need to buddy," Eagle said. "Or Jack's going to be very sad." Alex gazed directly at him with huge eyes as if that was the worst possibly in the world. Eagle thought it might be playing dirty but he didn't much care if it got him what he wanted.

"Jack can't be sad," Alex said quietly and Eagle nodded gravely. It was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever done with Alex and this was in a long line of ridiculous things. But trying to get a concussed Alex into an ambulance meant he had to stoop to talking to a teenager as if he was a toddler. Considering the teenager, the moment was very odd indeed.

"Exactly."

The boy nodded and Eagle nodded to the paramedic who was finally allowed to come close enough to help without the threat of being bitten. They bundled Alex into the ambulance and Jack promised to meet the kid at the hospital once the police released her from the scene.

"Are you the boy's parents?" the police officer asked. His name was Jones and he seemed friendly enough.

"No sir," Eagle replied wondering if the limp made people think he was older considering neither he nor Jack were any where near old enough to have Alex as their kid. Unless he was talking about adoption or a situation like Wolf and Tom. "But we are his legal guardians."

He didn't have the patience to explain that while his name wasn't technically on Alex's guardianship papers he was close enough. MI6 wouldn't let anyone but Jack take control unless he married her.

"Right, well," Jones continued, "Everyone was pretty clear about happened and while I think you certainly didn't help the situation I'm willing to let it slide. Mind you though, the guy could decide to sue you in civil court."

"Fine," Eagle replied, unconcerned. He had plenty of connections and it would be a simple matter of using some to find him a lawyer that would scare the jerk right out court.

After that they were allowed to leave. The kid was in the hospital for the rest of the night as they monitored him in case his brain swelled. And when Alex got out the next day he was embarrassed but feeling better.

00000

Tom climbed in through the window the next day. Eagle was eating Ben & Jerry's and watching America's Next Top Model. It wasn't his proudest moment but he had stopped caring a long time ago. Besides, Tom was the last person to question someone's television preferences. Alex was beside him, drooling in his sleep, but jerked awake at the sudden presence of his best friend.

The boy just had that type of effect on people.

"We have a door," Eagle said around his ice cream.

"I wanted to avoid Mrs. Henderson," Tom said referring to the old lady who lived across the street and had taken to giving all of them very stern lectures about family values and Christian morals. Eagle had been very short with her lately, uninterested in being judged and Tom had apparently taken to climbing through windows in order to avoid her.

He could sort of understand where she was coming from though. From the outside, their household was by no means traditional. There was Jack: a free-spirited American woman. There was Alex: an orphan with a bad reputation. There was Tom: an ADHD kid that spent half his time living at their home and half his time living somewhere else. And then there was him: the boyfriend that came and went with a group of friends that had bad attitudes and suspicious mannerisms.

All of this, combined with the attack less than a month ago left Mrs. Henderson thinking they were a bunch of very lost souls bound for hell. No one apparently felt the need to correct her. In fact, Wolf had even gone so far to ask if he'd look good with a stripper tattooed on his arm.

Tom had laughed so hard he had literally collapsed from lack of air and Mrs. Henderson had been so offended she couldn't bring herself to talk to them for a week. Apparently, she was back at trying to get them to church.

"Andy!" Tom continued excitedly, seemingly unconcerned with the state of his best friend. He'd worry over him later after he'd talked about whatever he wanted to talk about. "I got you a job."

"I have a job," Eagle said instinctively.

"No, you used to have a job but then you became a cripple so you can't do that job anymore."

Eagle glared at him and Alex pulled himself together enough to do the same.

"That was really insensitive Tom," Alex scolded but Tom shrugged. Eagle had always known that Tom was a person who liked to get to the point quickly no matter how rude it seemed. At least, that was his tactic when it suited him. And today, it suited him.

"But true," Tom defended himself. "I got you a job. Well, I got you an interview. Well, I got you an application. But I forgot the application at home so you have to get in the car and drive me back so that I can get the application. At least, I think I left it at home. I might have forgotten to bring it home at all."

Eagle blinked at him as the kid took a much needed breath and turned to Alex with a look that said, "If you don't explain I'm going to kill the both of you."

They knew that look well.

"Tom and I did some research and we found some places we thought you might like to look at. Several of them will let you work part-time, on your own hours."

"And where are these jobs?" Eagle asked. Unlike with his teammates he didn't feel any anger at the boys' prying. He wanted to be mad at them but it was just impossible to. With his friends he couldn't shake the feeling that there was mixed motives no matter how unfair that was to them. He knew they wanted him to be okay. And he knew the boys felt the same. But with Alex and Tom it felt less like he was being left behind and more like he being accepted. They were drawing him into their world a little more.

It had been a frightening realization at first but it was starting to feel right too. It was starting to feel normal. A new normal.

"Security companies mostly," Alex replied. "They want you to consult."

"I don't know anything about security consulting," Eagle replied honestly.

"You know more than you think," Tom said, bouncing up and down on his toes. "I've seen you break down a building's weak points in minutes of stepping inside. You'll be perfect! They'll love you!"

"I'll think about it," he said, not promising anything but knowing he would eventually fill out the applications. He wanted to help Jack with the bills and with Alex. He needed a job before he just got angrier and angrier with himself. This seemed like a good start.

He slapped Alex's shoulder in thank you. The boy nodded at him, happy, and also a little high on the medication they gave him at the hospital.

He reminded himself that he had to talk to Wolf about meddling. It was quite clear where he and Tom had disappeared to the day they'd all been at the flat. Wolf had been an integral part in this. In fact, Eagle remembered that Wolf had friends in private security.

"Can I see the applications?" Eagle asked. Tom rolled his eyes.

"Were you not listening to a word I said?" he asked.

"No," Alex and Eagle said at the exact same time. Tom gave them both a look and without another word left through the window he'd climbed through.

A few minutes of silence later and Alex asked a question that had clearly been on his mind.

"Did you punch that movie guy for me Andy?"

"Of course," he said as it was obvious.

"When are you going to propose to Jack?" he asked.

"Soon," Eagle told him. "I promise."

"She likes simple jewelry," Alex told him. "The classic kind of simple not the cheap kind of simple."

"Got it," Eagle said and continued eating his ice cream. Alex fell asleep. He could get used to this, he decided. It wasn't so bad.

And an hour later when Wolf emailed him the applications on a pdf, Eagle gave them a sincere look and gave Bolt Security serious consideration. After all, he had a family to think of now.


End file.
